


Spoilers- Kat and the Four Horsemen

by shallwebegin



Series: Kat and the Four Horsemen [2]
Category: Sherlock - Fandom, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-02-08 12:39:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 30,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1941468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shallwebegin/pseuds/shallwebegin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Endings, spoilers and deleted scenes from Kat and the Four Horsemen. Do not proceed unless you like that sort of thing!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cathy's Necklace

Kat took a shaky breath and hoped she was doing the right thing. She entered the med bay and nodded to Bones. 

“Hello, Love. What can I do for you?” the ship’s doctor asked.

“It’s about my parents,” she said. “I think I know what I want to do with…”

Bones squeezed her hand. “Come in my office, Darlin’. This might call for a bit of brandy.”

“Do you all drink to everything?” she asked.

Bones shrugged. “The big things, I guess. Especially the things that need a bit of courage.”

He motioned to a chair and sat next to her, handing her a crystal glass. “What have you decided?”

“Well, we’re approaching a planet I know and I thought, maybe it’s time to uhm…” she took a shaky breath.

“Time to honor them?” Bones said, trying to help. Bless the man she thought as she nodded.

“Do you want to choose a casket? We have the basic Starfleet design but we can make anything you are comfortable with.”

“Actually, we burned remains on my home world. I was wondering about cremation.” She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. Bear leaned into her. She gripped his ruff for comfort and sipped the burning liquid.

Bones studied the big dog. “You seem okay with this?” he asked and Kat realized he was asking the wolf. 

Bear woofed softly and leaned into Kat.

“Interesting,” Bones said softly. He patted Kat’s hand and then stood. He opened a drawer in his desk and drew out a small box. 

“I should have given this to you earlier. I wasn’t sure what your customs are.” He handed her the lovely little box. “It’s their personal belongings. What they were wearing.”

Kat sat the glass on his desk and opened the box, then felt her chin quiver again. There in the box, nestled next to a silk handkerchief of her mother’s lay her father’s watch and Uncle Matt’s wedding ring. She picked up the kerchief and felt the two rings inside. Taking a deep breath, she unfolded it to see her parent’s wedding rings. Her father had carried her mother’s ring with him when they fled Earth. They had fashioned a ring for him on board the Botany Bay. 

She held them to her heart and looked at Bones. “Thank you for keeping them safe.”

He gave her a sympathetic look and she could feel his affection for her. Bear rumbled softly in encouragement as well. She looked in the box and frowned. She turned the box on its side and looked again. 

Bones asked, “Is everything okay?”

“My mother’s necklace,” she said. “It’s not here.”

“She wasn’t wearing a necklace when they were brought on board. Could she had placed it somewhere on the Botany Bay?”

Kat shook her head. “She never took it off. Ever.”

Bones began to look concerned. He glanced up as Damian joined them. 

When Damian saw the items, he kissed the top of Kat’s head. “Ah sweetheart,” he said softly.

She gave him a serious look. “My mother’s necklace is missing.”

The two men shared a look and Damian said, “All their personal items were moved to storage here. We never really went through all of it. It’s probably there.”

Kat put the items in the box and jumped to her feet. “Let’s go look.”

She tripped as Bear grabbed her hand, holding her back. He growled and woofed, clearly trying to tell her something. 

“Not now Bear. I’m sorry. I need to find Mum’s locket.” She turned to Bones before they left, “Is there anything you need from me?”

He shook his head. “If you think of anything in the way of ceremony that we should do, please let me know.”

She nodded and then pulled Damian out the door.

Bear watched them go and then raised his nose to the heavens and howled a chilling wail. 

“I take it you know where the necklace is?” Bones asked. 

“Ah-roo!” the big dog responded before trotting after Kat, growling and mumbling. 

“Well, well,” Bones said. “I sure hope that means what I think it means.” He wasn’t a particularly religious man but he said a quick prayer that somehow, this magical galaxy hosted a beautiful songbird from far, far away. 

_________

As they nearly galloped toward the storage lockers, Damian asked, “What’s so special about this necklace?”

“My dad made it for her. It’s a locket but inside he painted the Earth’s solar system. He wanted her to have it whenever she felt homesick. She used to open it and look at the beautiful painting and remember. It was waterproof so she never had to take it off.”

“We’ll find it,” Damian promised. 

An hour later, Kat was biting back tears and Damian hugged her fiercely. “Okay, we might have missed it when we packed up their things.”

Kat looked at him through tear-filled eyes. “Could it have been taken? Could someone have taken it from her for a souvenir?”

Damian shook his head. “I was in charge of their bodies and I promise you, I watched them personally moved from the Botany Bay to Bone’s lab. I was there when Bones inventoried their belongings and they just wore the things you saw in that box. No necklace.”

A tear trickled down her cheek as she sighed. “Damn.”

Damian hugged her again and she heard him think that he would ask the MIT team if they found a necklace on board the ship. Kat knew it was silly to miss the loss of a necklace but she couldn’t help it. It was heartbreaking to think of her mother without that bit of home.

Bear leaned into their hug and she felt a comforting rush and a sense of calm stole over her. She drew a shaky sigh and patted the big dog. “Thanks boy,” she said softly. “I need a brandy.”

“You don’t like brandy,” Damian said. One look at her face and he said, “Yep, brandy it is.”


	2. Surprise Elizabeth

Elizabeth reviewed reports in the Captain’s chair, looking over the latest dispatches from Starfleet headquarters. Colin and John manned the pilot and communication console in front of her and Adrian helped Dr. McKay and Dr. Harrison in McKay’s lab. 

Their new celebrity crewmate was settling into the Atlantis routine, other than that unfortunate incident with the dragon. Elizabeth wondered how she described that in her mission wrap up and wondered how Christopher handled the young woman’s apparent super-human physical capabilities. His only communication to Elizabeth was “I’m sure Commander Cabrera can answer any questions.” Cryptic, considering the excitement surrounding the young woman, but she could understand Chris being a bit reticent to share too much information about the young woman.

The blast nearly rocked her out of her chair and several bridge crew were tossed to the floor in the ship’s upheaval. Elizabeth called for a status report. John shouted that they appeared to have been hit by something explosive. The ship’s shields had blocked much of the damage but the communications array was faltering. Colin worked desperately on his console to reconnect internal communication. 

“Can we reach McKay?” Elizabeth asked as another blast rocked the ship. 

John shook his head. “Shields are at thirty percent and weapons computer systems are down.” He turned to look at Elizabeth. 

Colin looked up. “We have an incoming communication,” he said.

“On screen,” Elizabeth said.

A flickering image appeared, so external communications also appeared damaged, Elizabeth thought, calmly categorizing their damage and remaining assets. 

A figure appeared as a ship materialized before them on a smaller screen. Apparently a ship that could fire while cloaked, Elizabeth thought. She steeled herself for the confrontation.

“Captain Weir,” the male said. Blue, stubby and humanoid, Elizabeth thought he might be from the adjacent M sector. He spoke to her in dialect she was unfamiliar with and it appeared the ship’s translator was not working. She picked up her personal translator from her side panel and slipped it into her ear.

“I am Elizabeth Weir. And you are?” she asked.

His eyes narrowed. Even in a different species, it wasn’t hard to recognize the hatred on his face. 

“Perhaps you should learn who you are dealing with before you interfere in matters that are not your concern,” he said.

Elizabeth stilled as she heard Colin’s voice but could have sworn he hadn’t said a word. She shook her head slightly and continued, “Please, enlighten me.”

Kat responded to Colin with, “Rodney is working on it. What can I do?”

John sent Elizabeth an apologetic look as her eyes widened against her control. Damn. An empath. Colin had some very serious explaining to do but Elizabeth was a pragmatist and she would take the gift.

John telepathically asked McKay what the status was and Rodney shouted back that weapons firing systems were down as well as most bridge control systems. 

Elizabeth was as disconcerted by how calm her leadership team was communitcating telepathically as she was by the male on her screen.

“I am Koman,” he spat out. “You destroyed my business on Golgos.”

The rescue on R302, Elizabeth thought. Of course, it couldn’t have been that easy. It appeared their adventure had caught up to them.

“Your slave business?” Elizabeth said cautiously as John and Rodney continued to shout at each other but they were dampened now, mercifully. Rodney was explaining how screwed they were. John was mentally yelling that they would be if he didn’t fix this. 

“We were rescuing our people,” Elizabeth said to their attacker. “You had no right to kidnap them.”

“I had every right,” Koman snarled. “You and your people do not belong here.”

She heard Adrian’s gentle murmur and John’s response. Now Rodney was babbling about garbage shoots and John was asking, “How long?”

“Hours?” Rodney shouted back.

“You have two minutes,” John told him.

Mercifully Kaitlyn dampened the heated response from Dr. McKay. The captain did clearly hear, “I need more time. Stall, Elizabeth.”

She saw Dr. Harrison appear at her side but continued to address Koman. “I understand your concern, but surely you must have known we would come after our own.”

“I had no such thought. You are a weak, cowardly race. Stupid and reckless in your disregard for this system.”

“I admit we do not understand all the nuances of this galaxy but we are learning everyday,” Elizabeth said, using her soothing voice reserved for crazy politicians and murderous aliens.

Koman smirked and said softly, “You will understand the nuances now. I am going to destroy you and then your race will think twice before interfering in this galaxy in the future.”

“Rodney!” Elizabeth shouted in her head and hoped that was how this worked.

“I’m trying!”

“Five minutes,” Adrian said, more calm than Rodney but he also sounded out of breath.

“Can you reach this asshole?” Colin asked. 

“No,” Dr. Harrison responded. She mentally asked Elizabeth. “May I?”

Elizabeth responded silently, “Yes.”

Kaitlyn stepped forward. “Greetings,” she said in Gorchan. “I understand you are angry with these humans. I am certain you have every right but please, allow me to leave before you destroy them.”

Elizabeth’s head snapped toward the woman. 

“Be still Elizabeth,” John telepathed softly.

Her eyes narrowed. Bloody hell.

“Why would I allow you to leave?” Koman responded in Gorchan as well.

Dr. Harrison said, “Do you not recognize me? I am Kat’na. I am quite wealthy and I can pay you handsomely for my life.”

Koman considered this and then his eyes narrowed. “I remember now. You are one of them, this human pestilence. I will not rest until you are exterminated from this galaxy like the disease you are!”

“Three minutes,” Adrian said desperately.

Harrison tried again. “But clearly you have not savored the delights that can be had with our kind. Particularly the females of our species.”

He sneered and Kaitlyn sighed. Then she took a deep breath and began to sing. She sang her famous song, in the middle of the smoking bridge on the disabled ship. She sang and pranced and flirted as though performing at Madison Square Garden.

Elizabeth thought it was either a hopeless attempt at self-preservation or a desperate plan to delay their destruction. Either way, the result was the same. Koman sat back in his chair, enjoying the spectacle.

Harrison had her mother’s beautiful voice and normally, this would be a delight to watch but in this time and place it was desperate, awkward and fascinating. Elizabeth wondered what the young woman was hoping to gain, even as she wondered what the hell Rodney was doing. Koman looked clearly amused by Harrison’s ridiculously inappropriate attempt to save herself. 

“Hurry up!” she heard Kaitlyn’s impatient plea in her head and heard Rodney’s response. Elizabeth’s hand moved ever so slightly.

Kat finished her song and looked at Koman expectantly. He smirked in derision. “Your race is pathetic. That is your response to death?”

“No,” Elizabeth said calmly as she touched her control panel. “This is.”

Koman looked confused as he heard the translation, then his crew began to shout at him. He shouted in return but it was too late. The heat-seeking missiles Rodney and Adrian had moved to the refuse release had found their mark and the ship rocked from the impact. Then one side burst into flames before the entire ship dissipated in a fireball.

“Cloaking ability but no shield,” they heard Adrian murmur. 

Then Rodney’s elated, “Who’s stupid now?”

Elizabeth expelled a long breath and marveled that her crew had survived another close call. 

Colin and John high fived as Elizabeth tried to communicate with sickbay through her comms. She grimaced as she realized she was cut off from her ship. Harrison reached out to Becket and they learned six crewmates were badly burned and several more suffered broken bones but he reported no fatalities. 

“They should all make full recoveries,” the doctor assured Elizabeth, clearly tickled by the communication method and bursting with questions.

Harrison had moved to Colin’s side. Elizabeth noted the hand on Colin’s shoulder trembled slightly. He reached up to squeeze her fingers before resuming his work on the communication console, testing and trying to reboot systems.

“John take the bridge. Colin, help McKay get the communications systems back on line.” She nodded to Radek who slid into Colin’s position. 

“Join me,” she said tersely to Harrison as she left the bridge to visit sickbay and inspect the ship.

_____________________

 

Kat followed Captain Weir from the bridge on knees that threatened to collapse as she tried to school the adrenalin shooting through her system. She sensed the captain was keeping a tight rein on her emotions as she quickly checked in with various labs along the way. Kat herself felt ridiculously close to tears and knew it was simply a physiological reaction but still hated it.

Elizabeth spoke with Beckett for a few minutes and briefly visited with several patients being treated for broken bones. The burn victims were already undergoing skin regeneration treatments and Dr. Beckett assured Elizabeth they would make full recoveries and be back on duty within a week.

Elizabeth nodded and touched his arm in thanks. She turned to Kat and her face hardened. “Come along.”

“I can be of help here,” Kat protested. She paused at the look in Elizabeth’s eyes and Carson gave a slight shake of his head. She sighed and stepped after the captain. 

Elizabeth told Carson, “I’ll be in Rodney’s lab if you need me.”

“He’s not there, “ Kat said and regretted speaking the moment Elizabeth turned to her. 

“Where is he?”

Kat reached out for a moment, then told her, “They’re celebrating in the garbage center.” She tried to sound lighthearted but Elizabeth’s face hardened even further.

Elizabeth turned on her heel and left the sickbay. Carson gave Kat a quick hug and told her to be strong. She followed Elizabeth wondering if this was what a truant child felt like on the way to being disciplined. It was a new sensation for her and she didn’t like it.

Elizabeth walked into the refuse control center and the crew who had helped Adrian and Rodney move the warheads stopped laughing and high fiving at her expression. 

“Is my ship fixed?” she asked. 

Rodney shook his head. “We were too busy celebrating not being blown to atoms,” he told her, a slight whine in his voice. Kat sent a pulse of comfort to him.

“You can celebrate later. First, fix my ship,” Elizabeth said, her voice softening. She smiled and said, “And well done everyone.” The crew grinned and bustled to do her bidding.

Elizabeth turned to leave and Kat sensed her surprise when she saw Kat wrapped in Adrian’s arms. Kat had buried her face in his chest and hiccupped in relief when he cooed to her. 

“Ah lass, you did well,” he told her. “You saved us all.” 

He tilted her head back, “Although I did notice you hit a couple flat notes love.” 

Kat gave a shaky chuckle before Elizabeth said, “Come along.”

“Time to face the music,” Adrian told her telepathically. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t argue and remember, she’s had a nasty shock.”

Kat nodded. “Nearly losing her ship.”

“No, having Rodney in her head.” 

Kat giggled before he pushed her toward Elizabeth. As they walked back toward the bridge, Kat thought about Elizabeth’s behavior and started to feel a bit angry herself. She hadn’t even thanked Kat for her help and now she was treating her as though she had done something wrong. Kat’s temper rarely flared but when it did her mother said it was a thing to behold. And both parents claimed she inherited it from the other. 

By the time they reached Elizabeth’s office, Kat was fuming herself. She didn’t ask to come on this wretched ship and she certainly didn’t ask to be nearly killed by some lunatic. There was no way she was going to listen to any nonsense from this woman. 

As soon as the door shut Elizabeth started in on her. “Can you explain just what the hell that was?”

“Me saving your ass?” Kat shot back, equally heated. 

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed and she took a step forward. “You better watch your tone Dr. Harrison. I will not allow insubordination on my ship.”

You only have a ship thanks to me, Kat thought, furious. Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed as though she had spoken out loud. Good.

“I cannot believe that Christopher Pike not only allowed you to stay on his ship but he sent you to me without any warning.” Elizabeth moved to sit at her desk, taking a position of authority as Kat stood before her, hands clenched in fury. 

“So Dr. Harrison, what other surprises are you hiding?”

Kat’s eyes narrowed now. “If I have any, I would only share them with those I trust.”

“Or control,” Elizabeth offered. “Just how powerful are you, Dr. Harrison?”

Kat’s temper flared as she looked at the other woman. “You mean am I powerful enough to dispose of you and compel everyone of your crew to serve me as I take over this ship?” Kat asked. 

She concentrated and slowly, Elizabeth’s hand, holding a phaser out of sight under the desk, appeared. Elizabeth struggled to control her motions but Kat easily overcame her. 

“Yes,” Kat said softly, “I am.”

She sensed the moment Elizabeth felt real concern when the gun traveled up in the air, then noted the woman’s self control as she refused to show any outward sign of alarm.

As Elizabeth’s hand lay the weapon on the desk, Kat said coldly, “That doesn’t mean I actually would.”

Elizabeth leaned back her chair and studied her for a moment. Confused, Kat had a feeling she had given Elizabeth the answers she was seeking. She relaxed slightly.

“Damn,” Kat said. “I would love to watch you play chess.”

Elizabeth smiled briefly. “I have a feeling I wouldn’t like the outcome with you though.”

“You could be like Captain Pike and insist I beat you,” Kat said. “He says it’s the only way to help him improve.”

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “Duly noted for the next time I play Chris.” She sighed and asked Kat, “So is this it? Superior physical capabilities, dragon taming and telepathy. Is there anything else I should know?”

“I’m good with math,” Kat said weakly.

“I was aware of that,” Elizabeth told her, the same amusement in her voice Kat had heard more than once in Captain Pike's. 

“I really can help with healing,” Kat added.

Elizabeth considered. “Tabitha Scott. I had heard rumors.” She finally nodded and said, “Please report to sickbay and provide whatever assistance you can offer to Dr. Beckett.”

Kat nodded and turned to leave.

“And Dr. Harrison,” Elizabeth said.

Kat turned back. 

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said. “For saving my crew. They are a fine crew.”

Kat studied her for a moment. “Captain,” she said, tipping her head in deference before leaving for the medical suite. She wasn’t sure if she was more rattled by the encounter with Koman or with Captain Weir. She had a feeling her score today was one and one. She bested the crazed slave trader but may have overplayed her hand with Elizabeth Weir. Oddly, she felt a bit safer knowing that Elizabeth was indeed a badass.


	3. Spelunking with the Horsemen

The away team meeting had covered the basics. The planet had a unique mineral composition worth investigating and no humanoid signs of life. The team wore respirators as the planet oxygen composition was low but gravity and atmosphere were acceptable for the humans. They would only need small breathing tubes on the planet surface.

They followed the readings to opening of a cave. Ben's face lit up with excitement as he peered down into the darkness. Kat started having a bad feeling as he signaled that the cave seemed to be the source of the readings. He repelled down with Colin, disappearing from sight and within a minute signaled the team all clear. His disembodied voice gave instructions- Damian and Bud were to stay topside to keep guard.

“Are you going with them?” Damian asked. 

Kat nodded, a little nervous. She reached for Colin and he looked around the cave, mentally sharing what he saw. A tall cavern, perhaps fifty feet tall and quite large. Swirling columns rose with flashes of light reflecting on the walls and ceiling. She sighed. “Of course it’s a cave.”

Adrian gave her a sympathetic look as he wrapped the harness around her and the portable winch lowered her. 

“Crap, crap, crap,” she thought. 

“I’m so glad we’ve taught you the finer intricacies of the English language,” Colin teased her. 

She glanced around and noted the only apparent exits from the cavern were under water. Dr. Ademole, one of the geologists, knelt at the edge of fairly large pool of water, then pulled on aquatic goggles, headlamp and small pack. She sent a scout droid into the water and read the signals it sent back. A quick nod to Ben and a smile and the two slipped into the water and disappeared into the underwater tunnel. 

Adrian pulled Kat over to the other geologist and the two began helping remove and label samples from the cavern’s sandy floor and shimmering walls. Within fifteen minutes, Ben and Dr. Ademole reappeared. 

Ben fairly glowed with excitement. “It’s an underwater passage that leads to a chamber, even bigger than this one,” Ben said.

Dr. Ademole added, “We counted several unknown minerals. It’s amazing.” She looked at Dr. Ricci. “The tunnel is about three feet wide and a bit more than a hundred meters long.”

Dr. Ricci sighed. “Of course it’s underwater.” She sent the samples taken up to Damian and then followed Ben and Dr. Ademole into the water.

“You don’t have to do this,” Adrian told Kat. “Return to the surface and wait for us,” he suggested.

She considered this but hated having fear control her actions. She stubbornly shook her head. “Let’s do this,” she told him.

Colin had already attached a thin lead of perhaps 15 feet to his belt and now snapped the other to her waist. Adrian did the same as her heart pounded so hard she thought it was going to burst. She tried to control the adrenalin surging through her system and bring her heart rate down. 

Ben reappeared, having delivered the scientists and gear to their find and wondering what was keeping them. “Ready?” he asked impatiently. 

Colin nodded tersely and Ben disappeared again, swimming like a fish into the water illuminated by his headlamp.

Kat swallowed hard and tried not to breathe too quickly, wondering how much air was left in her respirator. She reached for Damien. 

He echoed Adrian. “You don’t have to do this. Come wait with us on top.”

“I’m fine,” she lied and he snorted mentally. “If I’m not fine, I’ll come back, I promise,” she told him.

Colin gave her a thumbs up before gently submerging under water. He reached for her mentally as she returned the gesture underwater. 

“At least it’s the right finger. Five credits says, it will be a different one when we reach the other side.” he teased. 

She took a calming moment in the pool, lit by the ambient light pouring into the cavern from the surface and a lamp Ben had set near the pool. She loved water. Kat loved the feel of it, the sensation of movement, the joy of being in the water and tried to recreate that. As they entered the underwater tunnel, every single fiber in her body rebelled and she fought a moment of panic. She bit too hard into the respirator and paused. Colin paused as well.

She reached for Adrian. “What do you see?” she asked.

“Beauty,” he said. He opened fully for her, showing her the way the walls had been carved by a millennia of friction from the water. In his eyes the walls looked like artwork, glowing in the watery illumination from their lamps. The water shimmered green-blue and golden with light and Colin’s shadow moved ahead of them, swimming strongly and keeping them moving.

“All I can see is Colin’s ass,” she groused. 

She sensed Colin’s amusement as he shot back, “Aren’t you lucky.”

This time she snorted in return. 

Adrian continued to show her the beauty of his viewpoint as they swam and pulled themselves along the tunnel. “There are places like this on Earth,” he told her.

“Have you been there?” she asked.

“Yes. Ben’s little sister wanted to swim a really famous underwater cavern in Mexico, so of course we all had to go with her,” Adrian told her. She could sense the amusement and affection from both men at the memory.

“We were under strict orders to keep an eye on her, which is easier said than done with Cicely,” Adrian told Kat.

“What’s she like?” Kat asked.

Colin mentally chuckled. “A lot like you,” he said. 

“Stubborn, smart, single-minded,” he added as Adrian said, “Lovely, kind, courageous.”

The two clearly adored Cicely. 

“What’s she look like?” Kat asked.

Colin sent her an image of a young girl, about ten, laughing and flinging a disc in the air. Adrian shared an image of the girl chasing Colin with some weapon that shot streams of water at him as he shrieked and promised retribution. 

Cicely was adorable and Kat wanted to meet her. She was quite surprised at the age difference between the girl and Ben. She wondered at the admiral and ambassador spending so much time away from such a young girl. Perhaps she was in boarding school while they were away? 

They turned a corner and Kat lost sight of Colin and had a horrible moment of awareness of just how far into the tunnel they were. Adrian and Colin sent waves of encouragement and warmth toward her.

“Don’t make me drag your ass the rest of the way,” Colin mentally threatened her.

Adrian cooed, “You are doing fine, love. Almost there and you can drown him.”

“I’ve suffered worse from Colin and haven’t murdered him,” she reminded his cousin.

“I wasn’t talking about Colin, lass,” he whispered grimly.

Colin agreed. “Putz,” he whispered envisioning their team leader before schooling his thoughts.

Kat’s relief washed over the three of them as they emerged from the tunnel and into another pool. Adrian helped her clamber out of the pool as her knees shook. 

Ben barked for them to help retrieve rock samples. “We don’t want to run out of air and there are multiple mineral deposits running through the walls,” he said over his shoulder as he attached a bag to the little robot.

Kat’s eyes narrowed before she caught Colin’s grin. 

“I dare you,” he whispered. 

Adrian sighed and handed her a specimen bag. “As satisfying as it might be, I’m thinking you’ll regret it later, love,” he told her.

She considered for a moment and shook her head. “No. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t.”

Colin snorted and Ben looked at them, eyes narrowing as they weren’t moving as fast as he anticipated. “We only have an hour of air and that’s cutting it pretty close for a return to the shuttle,” he told them. 

Colin sent him a murderous look and Ben paused, confused. Then something about Kat’s face caught his attention. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping toward her. 

“I wouldn’t dream of interfering with your mission,” she snapped as she took the bag from Adrian and helped Dr. Ricci. 

She heard a murmur from Adrian, only catching, “Claustrophobic,” and felt Ben’s elation at the adventure dampen with concern. He started to say something but the look she shot him had him hastily moving to Dr. Ademole’s side. 

After fifteen minutes, Ben called the mission done and urged everyone to head back through the tunnels. Ben sent the probe ahead, then Colin and the two geologists. He snapped the lead onto his belt and then handed it to Kat. She wanted to protest but refused to engage in battle when she had the return journey to survive. 

Her hands shook, she wasn’t sure if from fury or fear, and Adrian attached the coil to her and then added his own length. Kat focused on the walls and tried not to think of their current position, so far from the surface.

Ben gave her a thumbs up and she bit back tears. This really was a stupid idea, she thought. 

Colin and the scientists had disappeared but he reached for her. “If you pass out, we’ll pull you to safety, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he told her. "I'm sure Bones could revive you."

She sent him a mental image of the finger she had seen her father send Uncle Matt over the years. Colin mentally chuckled. Idiot. 

As they dipped beneath the water, Ben chastised her, breaking into their conversation mentally, “You should have said something.” 

She tuned him out and reached for Adrian. “Would anyone believe it was an accident?”

Colin piped up, “If Adrian and I back up your story, they will. Of course then you would have to explain it to his folks and Cissy. She adores her big brother.”

Kat mentally sniffed. “She clearly doesn’t know him,” she whispered telepathically.

The men wrapped her in comfort and strength as she entered the first bend of the tunnel. She would have preferred to follow Colin’s ass through the waiting purgatory, she thought. She refused to panic and have one more black mark on her head with Ben. 

She noticed however, that Ben’s ass was quite nice. Tight and lovely, she thought. He really had an excellent bum. 

Adrian cleared his throat mentally and Kat felt the blush creep up as she realized the two men had heard that thought. 

“I’m hurt,” Colin said, clearly not. 

“You’ll recover,” she told him. 

Adrian offered, “That new science officer in the contagions lab would be happy to help.”

Kat wondered who he was talking about and if Colin had entered a relationship in spite of her interference.

“She’s a bit young,” Colin answered primly.

“Since when?” Adrian asked. 

“Since turning 30,” Colin said, as though he now had the wisdom of the ages. “The new recruits are getting younger every year.” 

“Funny how that works,” Adrian said.

“Easy for you to joke,” Colin said. “You’ve found your soul mate.”

“Praise God and all the stars,” Adrian whispered with feeling. 

Kat chuckled. “Does this mean I won’t be needing that airlock on Deck 7?”

“The day is still young, lass,” Adrian responded.

They finally reached the entry cavern and saw Colin sending the last bag of samples up. The scientists were already on the surface and Ben motioned for Colin to attach the harness as Damian used the portable winch to pull him up. The group followed, with Ben the last to leave the potentially dangerous cavern. 

They did not waste time getting to the shuttle and peeling off their respirators. Kat saw the meter showed twenty percent still left. Ben. Always cautious, she thought before scowling. Wretched man. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been so stubborn about going if Damien had been leading the group. She sighed. No, she would still have stubbornly joined them. It was just more satisfying to blame Ben than her own self.

Ben touched her arm. “Are you okay?” he asked again.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Thank you, commander for asking.” She settled next to Adrian as Damien piloted the shuttle toward the Excalibur. Ben joined him in the cockpit section. 

When they landed, Bear greeted her with suitable enthusiasm and she held him for an extra moment, happy to be safely back on the ship.


	4. Team Harrison

The team landed in the shuttle and approached the town. They knew the settlement of nearly five thousand appeared to have a small power grid and a fairly formidable wall surrounding the town center. As they approached, they saw villagers going about their lives, children playing in a field and workers in the surrounding farm fields.

Suddenly, a horn trumpeted through the valley, electrifying the villagers. Children screamed as everyone ran toward the fortress wall. Several villagers did not make it to the wall in time before the door slammed shut. After a moment of screaming and pounding on the door, they scattered into the buildings surrounding the wall.

McKay and Sheppard looked at each other for a moment in confusion. 

“Was it something we said?” Adrian asked in amusement.

Kat slowly pivoted to look toward the shuttle. “No, I think it was something she said.”

The team turned to see the threat approaching from the end of the valley. Huge, with a wingspan of perhaps 100 feet, the beast bore down on them with surprising speed.

“Is that a...” McKay began.

“A dragon,” Sheppard finished. 

“Yeah, this doesn’t seem like a good thing,” Colin said. 

There was no way they could make it back to their shuttle before the beast overtook them and the wooden buildings on the outside of the fortress wall didn’t seem like much of a shelter. 

Colin watched patiently as Kat stilled, with that look of concentration he had seen in the heat of battle. “Have you got this?” he asked softly.

After a moment she looked at him, concern on her face. “No.”

“Crap,” Sheppard said. “Run!” he yelled and they did. The team bolted toward the outlying buildings. Except Kat. She bolted toward the approaching death, pulling her bow from her pack as she sprinted. Bear raced after her, barking madly and trying to keep up.

“What the hell are you doing?” Colin shouted telepathically.

“Get everyone to safety,” she shouted back. 

Sheppard shouted for Colin and Ronan to find cover for the team. “That’s an order,” he shouted to Colin as he raced after the young woman. 

Colin figured it wasn’t a good time to argue that technically he outranked Sheppard. He also knew it was pointless to remind Sheppard that he probably couldn’t do anything more than the young woman he was chasing. Kat unleashed an arrow, which bounced off the beast’s scaly hide. Damn.

Sheppard fired several phaser blasts but this only appeared to enrage the beast. Colin shoved Ronan and Teyla forward. “Protect the villagers,” he ordered. Terran and Adrian already raced toward the exposed buildings.

The team reached the edge of the buildings and set up a parameter. They watched as the beast reached Kat. She slid under its belly as it snapped massive jaws toward her, then clambered up its scaly side and landed on its back.

As the beast shook, she clung to its neck. When it spun, trying to shake her, Bear howled in rage, jumping and nipping at the beast. The big dog stilled, then appeared to nod and turned, bolting past Shepard toward the village. Shepard hesitated an instant before following the loping dog. The dragon roared and spewed fire, scorching the earth as Sheppard and Bear raced toward the rest of the team. 

Then, the dragon lifted higher, lumbering with massive strokes of its wings toward the surrounding hills. As they flew out of sight, Bear howled a blood-curdling wail of frustration.

Sheppard stopped before the others, panting from exertion. The team stared into the distance, disbelieving at the events of the past few minutes. Villagers began to join them from the outlying buildings, tentative and fearful.

Teyla greeted them and the translator began to adapt as they chattered at the team. They had never seen anything like it. It had been many generations since they had seen such bravery. 

Adrian rubbed Bear’s ears as he howled again. The gate opened and more villagers began to approach. 

“You have saved us!” a woman approached and introduced herself as the village elder. “You fought the beast and saved us!”

“You didn’t give us much choice,” Sheppard reminded them, furious and worried. “Do you know where the beast has taken her?”

“She is gone,” the woman told them. “The beast should be appeased though.”

“That’s not really going to work for us,” Sheppard said. “We need to get our teammate back.”

“She is already dead,” a man said, flatly. 

Bear began to growl, low and terrifying. Sheppard swore. Colin reached for Kat telepathically and got a feeling but no response. She was apparently busy, but alive, he noted. 

“Load up,” Sheppard said, trotting toward the shuttle. The team trekked back into the shuttle and prepared to lift off. Just as Sheppard fired it up, Teyla touched his arm. “John, look.”

The beast approached again. Sheppard began to take off, muttering, “At least this time, it’s a fair fight,” he said. The villagers screamed and raced toward the wall. They slammed it shut again; at least this time everyone was inside.

Sheppard activated the torpedo weapons then cocked his head. Bear whined, standing on his back legs, paws braced on the pilot console, looking out the window. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Adrian said.

Riding on the back of the beast was a figure, ponytail blowing in the wind as she tapped its neck and the beast slowed, finally landing in the field fifty yards from the shuttle.

“Did she just?” McKay asked.

“Yep,” Colin said, grinning.

They rumbled off the shuttle and walked, cautious toward the enormous beast. Kat slid down the monster’s side and touched lightly on the ground. She patted the beast’s neck and whispered something to it. The beast growled and mumbled, puffs of smoke wafting in the morning air.

“Well, that was interesting,” she said as the team approached.

“Who’s your new friend?” Shepard asked.

“It’s really hard to pronounce,” she said in all seriousness. “She’s quite old, ancient,” Kat added. “There used to be many in her litter but the villagers have destroyed them by stealing their eggs. Now, there are only three left and they are guarding the last egg. The last of their kind,” she explained.

“That doesn’t seem like a bad thing,” Sheppard said.

She shot him a dirty look. “It’s a terrible thing. The only reason the dragons keep attacking the village is because the villagers keep attacking them. They just want to be left alone.”

“That’s gonna be hard to sell to the locals,” Sheppard told her.

She nodded. “I have an idea.”

“Oh God,” Colin said. Adrian shot him a dirty look before giving Kat an adoring glance. 

The village gate once again opened and a few of the villagers advanced, waving axes and swords. Kat walked toward them and explained the dragon’s request. Colin hated it when Sheppard was right. The villagers were not to be appeased. 

“How do we know it will keep its promise?” one shouted over the chorus of bloodthirsty threats to the beast sitting calmly, serenely, smoke curling around its snout.

“Dragons do not lie,” Kat said. 

“So they’re basically Vulcans,” Sheppard said. Terran sent him a long-suffering look.

Finally Kat explained that if they bothered the dragon again, the litter would descend upon the village and burn it to the ground. 

This didn’t seem to help as the villagers shouted the names of their loved ones- lost to the beast. They were in a bloodlust. Sheppard and Ronan shared a look, each keeping one hand on their weapons. After several minutes of ineffective pleading, Kat sighed. She walked toward the village elder and whispered in her ear, then repeated the process to several leaders, whispering in their ears until they nodded, then moving on. Sheppard arched an eyebrow as Colin grinned. 

“We agree to the deal,” the leader said with a dazed look. The other villagers who approached looked stunned. She added, “Anyone who breaks the deal, will face the death penalty.”

“Because that’s always an effective deterrent,” Colin muttered.

Further discussion stopped abruptly at the cry of alarm. A small child tottered toward the dragon and his mother screamed in concern. As the leaders attempted to pull weapons, they froze, looking on in horror. They struggled to break free of whatever force was holding them in place and the mother sobbed. Sheppard gave Colin a questioning look. Colin held up a hand asking for patience.

Kat took the child’s hand and led it to the beast. The team could hear her explaining the dragon was good luck in her land. The child tentatively touched the horny skin and the beast’s head tilted toward the child. 

Teyla groaned. The beast blinked softly as the child patted its nose and then chortled. Kat led the child away and explained to the gathering children that there were other dangers facing their land and they would need the dragon as a friend in the future. 

“Whatcha doin?” Sheppard asked her telepathically.

She whispered back, “Their generation may be the best hope for lasting peace.”

Then Kat shot Sheppard a look. “No, you may not ask it to roast marshmallows,” she hissed. Colin snorted in amusement as Adrian muttered something soothing in Bear’s ear. 

“So you grew up with dragons?” Sheppard asked Kat. 

She looked confused, then shook her head. “We didn’t have dragons.”

“You lied,” Sheppard said, feigning horror.

Colin tsked at her then rolled his eyes at the glowers from Terren, Rodney, and Adrian as they walked after Sheppard toward the village. 

Terren responded for her. “She found a solution.” 

Colin muttered something about “Team Harrison” before he too followed Sheppard.

Teyla looked back at the resting beast as the Atlantis crew followed the villagers into town. Kat spoke softly to the dragon before the beast lifted off and lumbered over the mountains.

Teyla glanced at Ronan and they shared a grin. “Just another day in Starfleet,” Ronan muttered as they followed the team.


	5. Sparring Buddies

Sheppard was going to lose to Ronan again. He should be used to it after this many years but he was too stubborn to ever learn his lesson and back down. Besides, he was distracted worrying about the young woman who had temporarily joined the Atlantis crew.

Dr. Harrison had only been on board a few days but the crew seemed to have lost their collective minds over her. He knew the crew appreciated what Kat had done to save their colleagues but with that video of her singing at the gate circulating, about half the ship appeared to be in love with her. 

Elizabeth originally assigned her to the lab with Beckett but an astonishing number of crewmembers developed medical ailments that needed attention. From their adoring attention, Sheppard remembered the masses who had fallen in love with her sweet mother. Clearly, the Atlantis crew saw Kat as purely a result of that gentle woman’s genetics rather than her other, more powerful parent.

Now, Kat spent most of her time in the genome lab working on the Orci DNA. The scientists had been forced to impose near quarantine conditions to get any work done. He tried to join her for meals, when she remembered to take them, just to send warning looks to the hopeful crew who invariably approached.

John was wiping his face with a towel when Colin appeared, nearly dragging the object of his concern. Colin teased her that she needed to get some exercise; she was clearly out of shape. Sheppard shook his head. The bickering friendship between the two was a strange one but they seemed to have that unspoken bond that came from knowing a teammate had your back no matter how fouled up a mission became.

Colin pushed Kat toward the mat and nodded to Sheppard, pulling a pair of sparring sticks from the wall. Colin handed the set to Kat. She looked at them in question then at Colin as though he had lost his mind. When he picked up a second set, she grinned and stepped forward, preparing to spar with him.

“You need to practice your self defense techniques if you are going to stay with Starfleet,” Colin told her. “We can’t be constantly saving your helpless butt on these missions.” 

That seemed a bit harsh but she merely frowned at Cabrera, wondering what he was going on about. Colin handed the other short sparring sticks to Teyla. 

“How about you spar with Teyla?” he said, sending a questioning look toward Teyla.

The women looked at each other, then at the man giving them a huge smile. “It’s okay,” Colin said. “You need to learn self defense and Teyla is about your size. We’ll let you ladies fight so you won’t get hurt.” 

The tiny, Athosian weapon of mass destruction gave Colin a pitying look before looking at Kat. The two women nodded and they bowed to each other. 

Sheppard started to say something about this being a really bad idea, but the pain in his wrist had him flinching. He looked down to see Bear’s huge jaw clamped around his wrist. The dog gave a soft growl in his throat and Sheppard looked up to see the two women begin to spar. It was probably too late to stop them and Teyla was the best fighter on board so at least Kat was in good hands. He still gave Colin a glare as the idiot started shouting encouragement. 

“Keep those sticks up. You don’t want that pretty face to get bruised.” 

Kat glowered at him as the tempo of the fight increased.

Sheppard soon relaxed as it became clear that they might finally have found someone who could keep up with Teyla. The two women spun, feinted, attacked and parried in a dance that spellbound the watching crew. 

Sheppard looked at Colin and said softly, “How long do you think they can keep this up?”

“Before Harrison is crying for help?” Colin asked, then ducked as a stick flicked perilously close to his head. He was the one giving Harrison a glower now as she grinned.

“Not long,” Colin said, ducking Teyla's stick this time. “Still, she has good stamina so she can probably outlast Teyla.”

Sheppard couldn’t let this nonsense stand. “Care to put your credits where your mouth is?” Sheppard asked.

Forty minutes later and Sheppard had seen moves that should have been impossible and the two women still didn’t appear to be tiring. Neither woman had landed a bruising blow, clearly respecting each other’s abilities. The crowd and the wagers were considerable. Sheppard held two fists full of credits as more crew crowded into the room.

He flinched when he heard Elizabeth’s furious question.

"What is going on here?” She sounded aghast.

She turned her displeasure on Sheppard and he couldn’t out Colin so he tried to explain. “It’s just a training. You know, self defense techniques against ninjas.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and barked for the crew to return to their duties. 

“Dr. Harrison is quite an accomplished fighter,” Teyla said, wiping her brow. “We should have you spar with Ronan while you are here.”

“Good God!” Elizabeth exclaimed, horrified. 

“It’s okay, she won’t hurt him too much,” John explained, grinning. 

Ronan sent Elizabeth a sheepish look of agreement. She turned to Kat. “We would be honored if you could share any fighting techniques you want to share but I think your talents would be better served in Dr. McKay’s lab working on weapons to fight the Orci.”

Kat bowed to Teyla and took the towel Colin offered. “I would be happy to do both,” she told Elizabeth. “Or fly Commander Cabrera on any scouting missions. Colin loves my flying.”

Sheppard looked at the two as Colin’s motion sickness on small shuttles was well-known. Cabrera dropped a towel over her head and Kat flicked it off laughing. 

“Permission to return to the lab,” Kat asked.

“Permission granted, Dr. Harrison,” Elizabeth said, then watched Kat and Colin walk away.

“So what happens if Ben’s girl is in love with his cousin?” Elizabeth said softly.

Sheppard shook his head. “She’s not. And he wouldn’t. He called her Ben’s girl the other day. It’s too bad she can’t stay long enough to meet Cumbers when he returns." 

Elizabeth shook her head. “”When we finish on P703 we have to send her back to the Excalibur. If they met in passing at the gate, it would be about the best we could hope for.”

“Poor Cumbers,” Sheppard said. 

Elizabeth murmured in agreement before turning narrowed eyes to him. “There wasn’t any betting going on was there?”

“That would be against captain’s orders,” he said, in all seriousness before skittering out the door toward his own quarters.


	6. Missing Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops. This got left out. It should be after the baby was born on the Excalibur.

Colin felt a bit blurry-eyed the next morning as he manned the pilot console on the Bridge. After the baby’s arrival, Damian, Kat, Cadman, Ming, Jemma, Fitzsimmons and Colin celebrated in Kat’s quarters. Kat opened the one of the bottles of berry wine Tobin had given her and they all agreed it had been a great day.

Now, Colin wondered at the wisdom of the celebration as he focused one eye on the console and tried not to groan. It might have been a good idea to see Bones for a hangover remedy but he had thought he could tough it out. It was just a berry wine. How bad could it be? He opened his other eye. Bad. 

Fortunately, they were scheduled to take supplies and crew to a mining operation two days away at full warp speed. He would not begrudge the boredom of the long haul. He monitored the ship’s navigation while admitting that things seemed to be much more hectic on the Excalibur than he remembered since Starfleet’s ban on exploratory landings. It almost felt as busy as the Atlantis, he thought. Almost. 

It had been busy enough that Pike had told them they would be spending this afternoon catching up on their reports and Colin could think of a million ways he would rather spend the rest of his Saturday. Still, it was an easy thing to work through the reports in one sitting and be done. He considered his reports from M641 and wondered how much the crew usually disclosed about Kat. Probably not as much as Starfleet expected, he thought.

Rudy worked on the communication console next to him and Damian seemed engrossed in the first officer’s terminal to his right. Damian glanced up to the captain and said, “Piano lesson?”

Pike considered and then nodded.

On a corner of the screen, Colin saw the camera image from the Excalibur bar. Kat sat at the bar’s keyboard with young Justine. Ming poured a cup of tea for Cadman and Gaia dished up some kind of food for the group. 

“How come their group report time seems more fun than ours?” Rudy asked, grumbling.

Damian grinned. “They’re smart enough to make it a thing.”

Colin wasn’t sure what a thing was but even his presently touchy stomach thought that looked good. 

The women conversed softly as Kat played a melody on the keyboard. She coached Justine on her timing and encouraged her to practice one section of the piece repeatedly until she had the timing down as a muscle memory. The teenager was quite good and Colin wondered how long she had been playing. Probably years and yet he had never heard a rumor of this interest. 

Justine’s father had died in an explosion on the science station Ada Byron. Her mother had been stationed on the Excalibur at the time and Pike had moved heaven and earth to allow the girl’s grandmother to come aboard as a special contractor. With a background in early childhood education, she was invaluable but well over the normal Starfleet rookie age.

The normal teenage behavior had given way to a surly temper lately, so Colin marveled as the young woman listened attentively to Kat and followed her instructions. The music lesson, with its gentle voices and musical lapses was oddly soothing, he thought. Then it occurred to him that the women would probably be less than thrilled to know they were being watched on the Bridge. He sent a message to Damian, “Do they know we are watching?”

Damian replied, “Yes. If they want to talk privately, they can. Otherwise, they don’t care.”

Over the next hour the women worked through reports and Justine practiced. Kat occasionally played a piece to show her the timing and Colin wondered what music lessons must have been like for John Harrison’s little girl. With Catherine Beauchamp as the teacher, he imagined she had a good example for her calm, gentle manner with Justine. He had to admit some relief that this powerful young woman seemed much more a product of her gentle mother. 

He started when he heard the snort in his head. “You are such a dumbass,” the mocking voice said. He froze as he saw her still in the ship’s bar, three floors below. 

“Damn,” he said softly. 

Rudy looked at him in question. 

Colin glanced at Damian as he sent a text message. “How powerful is she?”

“Enough to have you barking like a dog if you don’t chill out about my dad,” she whispered. 

Damian gave him a sympathetic look as he whispered in the conversation, “You asked.”

“Barking?” Colin asked, a bit heated.

“You prefer braying like a jackass?” she whispered back.

“You are such a brat,” Damian said silently, shaking his head in amusement. “Leave Colin alone. He could navigate us into the side of a planet.”

There was a startled silence then a smart, “Aye aye, commander.”

Colin shook his head and wondered if he would ever feel safe in his thoughts again.

“Yes, just tell her,” Damien silently said.

“But he is soooo much fun,” came the bratty response. “I’ve never see such a deserving soul before,” she said.

Colin snorted and Rudy’s eyes narrowed as he looked around for the cause of Colin's animated expression. 

“Stay out of my head brat,” Colin told her.

She sighed dramatically. “Fine but some day, you’ll be crying for me and I’ll won’t hear you.”

“Not bloody likely,” Colin said out loud and Pike’s voice entered, strong and commanding. 

“Stop distracting my Bridge crew.”

“Yes sir,” came the angelic reply. 

Just before the connection faded, Colin added, “Brat.”


	7. Ben's fashion choices

Kaitlyn felt the tension from the past few days slowly draining as she followed Ben's mother through the village bazaar. The Ambassador had insisted today was a day off and she was going shopping. When her bodyguards tried to follow she told them to take the day off. When they argued, she told them Kat would be her bodyguard and one of them actually whimpered.

Maggie looked casually elegant in a blue blouse that matched her lovely eyes. She held up hoops with matching blue stones. "Wouldn't these be lovely earrings?" she asked.

Kat nodded. "If they were earrings. I just wouldn't wear them to any diplomatic dinners. You might give the wrong message to the men in town."

Maggie very carefully set the earrings down as a smile hovered at the corner of her mouth. She looked up, then saw something past Kat and said, "Ahh," in that way women do when they see an adorable child.

Kat looked around and didn't see any children but then her attention was arrested by the two men walking toward them. Ben and his father had heeded Maggie's order that it was a day off and decided to forego their Starfleet uniforms.

"Uhm...I...oh..." Kat was literally speechless at the sight.

"They dressed themselves," Maggie explained.

"In the dark?" Kat asked, slightly horrified.

"You get used to it," Maggie assured her.

"That's not possible," Kat said.

"How about this?" Maggie held up a wildly vibrant pendant with feathers and bones.

"It will match your husband's shirt," Kat told her.

The two women burst out laughing as the men reached them.


	8. The Third Horseman

Adrian turned the corner but stopped when he spotted the young woman stretching ahead of him. She flexed her shoulders and wiggled, then began to dance in a silly skip step. She added a sexy hip movement and he watched, thinking it must be some kind of tribal dance. She whirled, oblivious to her surroundings, then changed tempo to a.... he tilted his head watching. A strutting bird? Then she shimmied and whirled and skipped sideways again. 

Normally you wouldn't ever expect to see John Harrison's daughter doing the funky chicken in a spaceship corridor, but this was the Atlantis and weird shit was the norm here.

She suddenly stopped and her head whirled around. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him for a moment. He was pretty sure he couldn't replicate that wicked hip bump but he could do the funky chicken as well as the next space cowboy. 

He wiggled and whirled and shimmied toward her. Her eyes widened, then she giggled. They danced together in the silent corridor for a bit as she showed him mental images of the dance. It was tribal, from her childhood, but the drumbeats sounded vibrant and alive in her memories. He nearly fell over at the sight of Catherine Beauchamp, no, Harrison, he remembered. Even dancing barefoot in a sarong, she looked like a goddess.

When the dance ended, they faced each other. Katie's eyes sparkled with merriment. He bowed deeply to her and she dropped into a curtsy, only slightly ruined by the combat boots. Then he continued on, past her lab to engineering, whistling in tune to a tribal beat fading in his head.


	9. A Merry War

The Atlantis crew looked surprised at the sniping between Kat and Colin.

“There is a kind of merry war betwixt them,” Terran said, trying to explain what he still did not understand.

Sheppard grinned. “Nice literal reference.”

“Vulcan children have a very well-rounded education, including the complete works of the great Vulcan playwright Shakespeare,” Terran responded.

Sheppard arched an eyebrow before turning back to Kat. “A war?”

“He’s quite horrible,” she said, sounding young and vulnerable.

Colin grimaced. “Nah. It’s all good,” he said, not very convincing. 

Kat snorted. “Colin thinks I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“He does keep trying to perfect a method for capturing or detaining her,” Terran said.

Colin frowned at Terran’s lack of filter.

“It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard,” Sheppard said, looking at the small human they were discussing.

“You have no idea,” Colin said in an aggrieved tone.

Ronan pulled his weapon and fired up the crystal, pointing the charged gun at Kat. 

“Ronan, No!” Teyla shouted.

Sheppard tried to step in front of Kat to protect her but Bear got in the way and tripped him.

Elizabeth yelped in alarm.

Kat merely tilted her head and considered the enormous man. Then, a slow smile crept over her face and she sauntered, all feminine man killer, toward Ronan, taking her time as she approached.

Colin grinned in anticipation and noted Ronan’s widening eyes as she approached. 

“Are you compelling him to stand still?” Colin asked her telepathically.

“No, but I will you if you don’t shush,” she whispered back.

She reached the big Satedan and, using one finger, pushed the weapon away. Then she stood nearly on pointe and he bent his head to hear what she whispered into his ear.

“This should be good,” Colin said, grinning broadly.

When she finished, Kat stepped away and Ronan threw his head back and roared with laughter. 

Kat turned to Elizabeth. “I'll just be waiting on the shuttle.” She sounded as though people pointed guns at her everyday.

“Of course,” Elizabeth said. 

“That’s it?” Colin shouted. “No knocking him on his ass; no barking like a poodle or embarrassing hypnosis?” 

Sheppard glanced at his former shipmate and wondered what he was going on about. 

Kat turned to Colin. “Of course not. He had no intention of shooting me, as opposed to some people I know.”

Sheppard nudged Teyla and pointed toward Bear. The big wolf’s eyebrows knit as he watched the spectacle. He had been grinning at the sight of the big man when he pulled the gun. Now he looked as bewildered as a furry dog could possibly look.

After Kat turned toward the shuttle, Sheppard asked Ronan what she said.

“She said she always appreciates a man with a big gun,” he said grinning.

Bear began to grumble in a series of wookie noises. Sheppard had to think Bear would have preferred Ronan landed on his ass as well. The dog trotted after Kat, still mumbling while the team prepared for their next landing party.

Sheppard and Elizabeth stood for a moment, looking at their celebrity crewmate.

“I wonder how much she’s changed,” he said. He glanced at Elizabeth. “Since her father put her in the stasis pod. I wonder how much she’s changed.”

Elizabeth wondered where this was coming from. “It’s only been a few weeks in her conscious mind, so probably not much.”

“I bet it’s a lot,” he said. “She’s lost her folks and is making her way on her own for the first time in her life. I bet she’s changed a lot. You know, like over-protected kids when they hit that first year of college. We’re her freshmen class,” he said.

Elizabeth considered then gave him a disconcerted look. “God help us.”

He grinned. “Maybe Colin had the right idea.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “I forbid it John. The last thing we need is a scandal from treating John Harrison’s daughter badly.”

“Huh,” he said distractedly as he walked away.

Elizabeth called after him. “I’m serious John.”

He waved a hand in acknowledgement before picking up his bag. You would think Elizabeth would have learned better by now, he thought.


	10. Ben and Peggy

Kat approached her father's shuttle, the Pegasus, with some trepidation. She glanced at Damian but he couldn't hear anything with those ear plugs. She wasn't sure if they were to combat the opera music blaring from Peggy's speakers or the top-of-his-lungs baying from Bear. The wolf dog sat on his haunches, nose to the sky, howling in protest, she assumed, of the soprano belting out Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro."

"How is everyone?" She asked Damian softly, telepathically. 

He started, then grimaced. "Better than Bear. We need to build some ear plugs for him."

She laughed and asked, "If you hate the music, why are you playing it?"

"It was Ben's day to choose a playlist," Colin added, joining the conversation.

Ben popped out of the shuttle to grab another tool and saw Kat. He grinned and pointed up, listening. "Your mom's music!"

He looked adorably pleased with himself. She had always rather agreed with Daddy about opera but Ben was truly enjoying it. She nodded and gave him a cheerful smile.

Then she rubbed Bear's abused ears and called for him to follow her. The dog gave Ben one last disgusted look and trotted away with her. She patted his head in the lift. "How about some meatballs?"

Bear mumbled and woofed, still rather put out, but starting to settle down. Kat figured he would work her sympathy for at least a pound of the delicacies. She patted his head again. He deserved it.


	11. Dances with Wolves

Sheppard landed the puddlejumper and opened the back door. The unicorn stood for a moment, head flung up, nostrils flaring as he sniffed. The four humans and wolf waited, hoping they had guessed the correct world for this magical creature.

Suddenly the horse bugled and leaped out of the shuttle, skittering to a stop and freezing, sniffing again. Then it began to gallop away whinnying in joy. The Atlantis crew stood behind the jumper, watching the beautiful beast celebrate. After a few seconds, it turned and raced back toward them. It slowed to a trot, silken mane flowing in the breeze. 

The unicorn stopped before Kat and nickered. She rubbed its nose, murmuring how happy they were the creature was home. The unicorn responded with a soft whicker and laid his head over her shoulder. She hugged him fiercely before patting his neck and telling him to be happy.

The unicorn looked at her for a moment, then at Bear. Then he bowed and whickered. 

“Are you sure?” she asked out loud.

After an answering huff, she slid onto the creature’s back and the unicorn trotted away. He trotted in a circle, letting her find her seat before easing into a liquid canter. 

“Are you recording this?” Sheppard asked. Colin grinned.

Bear trotted into the jumper and nosed the controls before one of Sheppard’s rockabilly songs began to play from the shuttle’s external speakers. The wolf gave a happy “Woof!” and raced to join his friends. After a few minutes, Rudy asked, “Are they…”

“Dancing,” Sheppard breathed. “Yeah, they are.”

The four-legged creatures danced and shook and Kat laughed in joy, arms flung wide as they celebrated. Finally, she slid off the unicorn and joined in, dancing in a tribal routine that she must have performed dozens of times. Bear apparently knew the dance as well because he matched her steps, at least as well as a giant wolf could. The men stood spellbound by the silliness and absolute beauty of the moment.

Eventually the unicorn stopped and head up, sniffed the air. He gave an excited bugle and raced toward a nearby tree line. 

Rudy said, “My life is now complete.”

The beast greeted the shimmering white horse with the tiny foal at her side. She nuzzled her mate’s neck and nickered softly. The baby, shy, peered around her side at his father before stepping forward on ridiculously long legs. The father nuzzled every inch of the foal before hanging his head over his mate’s neck. 

Then the unicorn nudged his family forward, introducing them to Kat and Bear. The female’s nose quivered at the furry predator, but Bear bowed low and rumbled a greeting. The family was introduced to Kat and then the rest of the crew before the baby began to bump his mother’s side. Hungry, he was less impressed by the visitors and more concerned with his stomach.

Kat laid a hand on the unicorn’s neck. “Take care of your family, beauty. Please take care.” She said the last with a hitch in her voice.

The unicorn snuffled her cheek before leading his family toward the trees. He turned to look over his shoulder one last time, trumpeting a final call before disappearing into woods. 

The men stood transfixed, unaware of the wetness on their cheeks. Life’s perfect moments had a habit of undoing even the strongest of warriors and Bear bumped Kat’s leg before she hugged him, burying her face in his neck for a moment. They silently filed onto the puddlejumper and turned toward Atlantis. 

Sheppard turned to Kat, giving her a serious look. “Thank you,” he said softly.

She leaned her head against Rudy’s shoulder and sighed. “I’m so glad you saved him.”

Sheppard grinned. “Actually, that would be Ben. He went back for the beast even though the building was about to explode and we were under heavy fire.”

Kat sighed again and Bear lay across her feet, his big head resting on Rudy’s boot. 

Sheppard looked at Colin. “Let’s go home.”


	12. Bear and the Enchantress

Bear tiptoed from the nursery as the last child drifted to sleep. Geoff, the children’s teacher smiled and patted him on the head in gratitude, as naptime was much easier to implement with the big dog, especially since Shepard and McKay were planning to take the unicorn back to its home world. 

Bear trotted from the nursery, head up, deciding between visiting Teyla for a snack or the ship’s galley. Suddenly, he stopped. His nose went up as he sniffed the air. He stilled and looked for a moment like a statue as he stood, head tilted, listening. Crew members saw his look of concentration and looked around before shrugging and continuing on their way. 

Suddenly the big dog let out an explosive bark and raced down the corridor. He skittered around a corner so fast he slid on his side, then used the wall to propel himself faster down the hall. He raced past an ensign leaving the stairwell and thundered down two levels to the hanger deck. From there, he scrabbled at breakneck speed toward the landing bay.

As he bolted through the door, he saw his quarry. His joy was overwhelming as he launched himself in the air and tackled Katie. She landed with an, “Oomph!” before he began kissing her madly, licking her face and yipping deliriously.

“Bear! No!” Elizabeth cried as Sheppard and Cabrera tried to pull him off the girl. She squirmed under his weight but he tried to hug her with enormous paws and kiss her again. Finally, Ronan lifted him as he wriggled madly to return to the girl.

Sheppard and Adrian helped her to her feet as she wiped the doggie drool off her cheeks, laughing. 

Elizabeth shot Bear a furious look as she apologized. “I am so sorry. He’s normally quite well behaved.”

Katie waved a hand and laughed. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

Bear struggled against Ronan and then howled his dismay at being separated from her. 

Ronan set him down as Katie walked toward him and knelt. She ruffled his ears. “Hey big guy. I’m happy to meet you too.” 

She laughed as the wolf dog tried to climb into her arms and nearly knocked her over again. One of the technicians approached with a length of chain and Bear growled his warning. 

Katie sighed. “It’s okay. He doesn’t mean any harm.” She hugged him one more time and then turned to the captain.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had such a happy welcome,” she offered as Elizabeth shot Bear a perfect look of reproach. He ignored her and pressed his fluffy side to Katie’s leg, trying to meld with the young woman.

Katie greeted the rest of the team, speaking with each one before she turned toward Sheppard.


	13. Virgin No More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a weekend of binge watching Season 9 of SG1 with Ben Browder and this just had to be done. No clue where or if this will fit but Cam just had to be the one.

Captain Mitchell trailed a hand down Kat's side, causing all kinds of wonderful tingling.

"So what do you like?" he whispered.

"I don't know," she said.

He looked at her, confused.

"I've never done this so I don't know."

He did a fair job of hiding the look of horror; too bad she was telepathic. 

She sensed his concern. "Do I look like a naive, vulnerable young woman?" she asked.

He thought about her parents and said, "Well actually with everything you've been through, yes, now that you mention it."

She sighed. "And here I was worried about your delicate sensibilities." She smiled as that got him thinking.

"Well, it's either you or Ronan so if you're not interested..." she said.

"No, no, no," he said, not bothering to hide the horror this time. "That is not gonna happen."

She arched an eyebrow.

"Nope, no. I will hogtie you myself and take you back to Christopher if I have to, but that is NOT gonna happen."

Her faced screwed up. "Hogtied?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know..." He put his hands behind his back and wiggled his fingers at her.

She crossed her arms but mentally reached for him, capturing his hands and holding them.

He tried to move them but couldn't. After a moment of struggling he stopped and looked at her. "Well I'll be damned." 

She chuckled telepathically as some of that heat came back to him. 

"Should I call Ronan?" she asked, all innocence.

His eyes narrowed. "Maybe we should just think about this for a moment," he said, a bit of that sexy purr returning to his voice.

"Okay, you think and I'll just entertain myself for the time being." She nuzzled his neck and then dipped lower, kissing his clavicle. Katnip indeed.

Before long she felt his hands on her as she had gotten too distracted and then he kissed her. One of those long, slow, deep kisses that she had always wondered about. Instead of distaste though, she just felt longing and passion and warmth. She could kiss this man for days. He was so intoxicating she might not even need any other sustenance.

Eventually he moved lower and God love a southern gentleman who took his time. She sighed with the pleasure of it. Tentative, she reached for him telepathically, sharing a bit of what she was feeling. She waited for his response.

After a moment of surprise, he said, "Hot damn! One of you finally comes with a user's manual." Her bark of laughter turned quickly to a moan as he awakened parts of her that she had kept tamped down her entire life. 

It was considerably later when she lay nestled against his side while they both caught their breath. She had chosen well, she realized. A sense of tenderness stole over her for the genuine care he had given her. She pushed a sense of satisfaction and pleasure to him and he squeezed her lightly. 

"That is a hell of a gift you've got there," he said softly. "I take it this explains how the Excalibur is making some progress against the Orci?

"It's a good team," she said, modest.

"It is indeed," he said, caressing her hand. "Still, I thank you for it. I would have lost one of my teams a couple weeks back without your fancy gadgets. We did toast to the Excalibur and her captain's good health when they made it back safely."

"I'm glad. They seem to be one step ahead of us sometimes," Kat said, tracing a finger over that hard chest.

"Yeah, they may be ugly as my granny's prize-winning sow but they sure are smart."

She struggled for an image and snorted as he showed her. 

"They aren't though," she told him. "They really are not that smart; that's what so frustrating. They don't seem to have the ability to adapt, yet they do."

"Maybe they've got someone helping them," he said.

"Lord, who would possibly do that?"

He shrugged. "Maybe someone who gains from their trail of destruction."

She thought about that and suddenly the defense minister's map from Gorchan flashed through her mind. Then, the dots of Blacktide outposts overlay the dots she had seen in Christopher's office showing Orci attacks. 

"Oh!" she said. "Oh!"

She sat up in bed and pushed her hair back. She had to tell Pike. She started to spring up and saw Mitchell's face from the corner of her eye. He looked amused. Damn. 

"You figured it out," he said.

She told him what she had realized and any thought of passion fled as anger crossed his features. "Bastards."

He rose as well and began to pull pants on. "Is Chris on board the Excalibur?" he asked. 

"I think so," she said, dressing quickly. She paused. "I'm so sorry."

He walked to her, pulled her into his arms and cupped her chin. "Nothing to apologize for, sweetheart. Anything you can do to help in that battle, I'm with you."

She nodded and searched for her communicator. "I left it in my room," she said ruefully.

He activated his. "Bridge, connect me with the Excalibur."

He handed her the communicator and she quickly identified herself then asked if Pike was on board. She asked permission to beam herself and Mitchell on board.

Pike met them as they materialized on the Bridge. Pike told her, "We were trying to contact you. Tabby fell and Bones was trying to reach you. He says it not serious but she was crying for you."

She bit her lip as she considered the information she needed to share. Mitchell touched her arm. "Little girls take priority," he told her. "I went through the academy with Scotty. He's good people. I'll fill Chris in with what you told me and then you can join us."

She nodded and started to leave but turned back and kissed him full on the mouth. "Thank you, for exceeding all my expectations," she said.

As she raced off, Mitchell turned to Pike and caught his amused look. 

"I don't even know where to begin," Cam said.

Pike motioned to his office. "With Kat, none of us do."


	14. The Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this scene and the one that follows it first... Before anything else. It came after seeing an interview with Ben where he said he wanted to be like Christopher Tietjens from Parade's End. I love Tietjens too but realized what I adore about Ben is... Well, Ben. The goofy, dorky, occasional dumbass.
> 
> So I asked myself, what would it take? What would it take to turn Tietjens or even John Harrison into Ben? The answer? Completely losing his shit over a woman. And this scene (and the one that follows that I can't post until it's done... There are spoilers and then there are spoilers!!), were my version of that "well I'm not now!" losing it moment. Buckle up Ben... It's going to be a bumpy ride.

The Horsemen and the punk kid pilot that Kat had adopted had spent two weeks "looking for her" but Ben was pretty sure they were more interested in making him completely lose his mind than finding her. They had retraced Kat's life and visited where she grew up, then toured her college where that crazy brilliant brain had developed, then retraced her parents' journey through the galaxy before she was born. One time, he was sure he saw Bear nosing the coordinates in as they took off but that was just crazy. At several places they arrived in time to "just miss her" and a couple times Ben was convinced they were starting to make places up just to piss him off.

It didn't help that he got a nice message from Gram about the lovely visit they just had with Kat and how much she approved of his future bride. Bloody hell. While he was eating replicator rations on an ancient shuttle with a bunch of assholes, she was at Highgrove with his family. It definitely made him feel a bit vindictive toward his companions. 

When they got too obnoxious, he pulled out the trombone and tortured them right back. On M573 Bear actually grabbed it and ran off, apparently intending to put it out of its misery. It took far too long for five of Starfleet's best minds to finally retrieve the hated thing. Unfortunately they did but not before Ben surreptitiously recorded several minutes of them looking like lunatics being outsmarted by a dog.

Even Bear had enough and abandoned them on M841. Ben wanted to stay and look for him but the boys had dragged him onto the ship claiming Luca deciphered a message from her and she was headed to T743. 

When that tuned out to be a bust, he insisted on going back for the dog but the guys told him they would have better luck finding the wolf once they safely had Kat in custody. That led to a full-out scuffle on board the Pegasus and he was pretty sure Luca used some Jedi mind trick to knock him out. He finally surrendered as it dawned on him Luca wasn't too concerned about the dog and he was pretty sure the dog was the kid's best friend in the world after Kat.

They were camped on the outskirts of a small town where one of the last couples to leave the Botany Bay had settled. They sat around a fire, eating the fish that Adrian had caught and Luca had cooked, again proving his usefulness although Ben would have been much happier if the kid didn't attract the attention of every female in every species they encountered and if Luca hadn't spent weeks living on a spaceship with the future mother of Ben's children when she was pissed off at him. 

Back on earth, BBC recently aired a special interview with Kat, interspersed with videos that Matt Brewer shot while she was growing up. Adrian was able to pull up the file and they were now watching it.

The show started with a tiny little girl curled against John Harrison's side on a bed on the Botany Bay. She said weakly, "I threwded up." 

Harrison smiled slightly and hugged her. "That was a lot of birthday cake Katie-did." 

"I don't like birthday cake," she announced.

"I love birthday cake," he confided, "especially your mum's." 

She shuddered slightly. "Sing to me daddy."

The low, rich baritone began to sing an old Earth folk song and the screen dissolved to shots of her growing up, first on the ship, then on her home world. The show cut to the interviewer asking what it was like growing up with the famous John Harrison as her dad.

Kat smiled. "You all have it backwards," she said. "You run around playing John Harrison with guns and Kung Fu and act like that's what made him heroic."

"Isn't it though?" the interviewer prompted.

"My dad was the most brilliant person I've ever known and he spent most of my life on a planet that barely had running water, just to keep his wife and child safe. He hunted and worked and took care of us and never acted like it wasn't a gift to be able to do so. That's what made him a hero." 

Ben considered that as the show continued through more of her life, including a charming bit where a preteen Kaitlyn bounced up to her dad and Uncle Matt, the two most bad ass humans ever to come from the Milky Way. She was dressed in some sarong type of dress and threw her arms up before announcing in English, "I have boobs!" 

The look of abject horror on her father's face as Matt leaned in and said, "I thought we agreed she wasn't getting those" was priceless. Ben had a shuddering thought, wondering if their little girls would be anything like their mother.

"I need a drink," John Harrison announced before turning to walk unsteadily away, while a very feminine chuckle came from whoever was taping this. Kaitlyn turned to presumably her mother behind the camera and said in a disgusted voice, "Well that wasn't very helpful!" 

His heart ached as he watched this normal, adorable kid grow up to be a stunning teenager. He really didn't know much about her. He was pretty sure none of this stuff was news to the other Horsemen but why didn't he know that she broke her arm when she was eight or that her mom actually tied better fishing flies than her dad?

The screen dissolved to a shot of a teenage Kat standing next to her father, his arm resting on her shoulder and her hand reaching up, holding his. She had a pensive look on her face as the sounds of laughter and activity filled the background in their village. Harrison noticed the look and quirked an eyebrow. 

She studied someone off camera and chewed her lip. "You and Mum finish each other's sentences; you know each other so well," she said in English. He nodded. "But every day you ask her, 'what do you need?' If you already know, why do you ask?" she questioned.

He considered for a moment before responding, "It's a surrender, I guess, and a promise."

"What do you mean?"

He nodded his head, presumably toward her mother off screen. "That exquisite creature has given me everything, her life, her heart," he kissed the top of Kat's head, "you." She smiled and rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder. "The least I can do is listen to whatever she needs."

"But wouldn't it be more romantic to just do it without her asking?"

He smiled wryly. "I tried it that way for years. It never seemed to work out well," his voice was laced with deep humor. "She is a brilliant, powerful woman; she should have the say in what she needs. And there's the promise," he added.

"Promise?"

"That I would use the last breath in my body to give her whatever it is she needs," he said with devastating simplicity.

She nodded and considered. After a moment, she said with a hint of accusation, "I'm never going to find someone like you."

He looked horrified. "Christ, I hope you do a hell of a lot better than that," he told her, kissing the top of her head one more time before stepping forward to catch two giggling bundles of energy. His rich baritone laughter warmed the screen as he swung the twins around in a circle.

The camera stayed on Kat's watchful face for a moment. "Not possible Daddy," she said softly, a second before her face split into a smile as a tiny body catapulted into her arms, laughing. She giggled and swung the child around in giddy circles. 

The video faded and moved to another scene but Ben's attention was lost. Shit, he thought, as he remembered all the times Damian has softly said, 'ask her what she needs'. Damn. All of his grand gestures had been things he decided she wanted or things he thought she should appreciate. He had never asked her what she wanted or needed from him. He left the campsite and walked to the edge of the river, looking at the double moons and endless stars.

Was there a reason for that, he considered. Was he willing to surrender? Was he willing to risk that she would say something that he couldn't or wouldn't give her? She was looking for surrender and promise. He gave her empty gestures and then a bad attitude when she didn't appreciate his effort. She was right. He was a dumbass. 

He had spent the past few weeks congratulating himself that he finally realized how well she would fit into his life and he never considered if he would fit into hers. What if she wanted to leave Starfleet? What if she wanted to live the rest of her life in Gorchan or some little village like the one she grew up in? What was he willing to give her? 

Ben thought about his carefully planned life, the captain's position, his family back n England, and realized with absolute clarity that none of it mattered if he didn't share it with this amazing woman. If she wasn't his best friend and lover and mother of his children and his partner in everything, then none of it mattered at all.

Colin moved to his side and stood quietly, waiting. Luca moved to his other side, then Damian and Adrian. The Horsemen waited for him to pull his head out of his ass and he wasn't even sure where to begin. 

"Where is she?" he asked Luca.

The insolent pup challenged him, "Why do you care?" 

"Because it doesn't matter what the answer to the question is. I can't imagine my life without her."

Luca arched an eyebrow, still not budging. Damn, this kid would be a hell of a captain some day if Ben didn't kill him first.

"And I am willing to spend the rest of my life doing whatever she needs," Ben said softly.

He expected the pup to continue his stubborn stance but instead the corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk. Luca glanced at Damian and then Colin. They both nodded. "She's on Atrias," he said. "But it will take two days to get there and it's too late. Once she climbs the cliff, she's lost forever."

Ben's heart chilled when he realized what the kid had been trying to tell him all along. Damn. It was the centennial Moon Goddess ceremony. A woman from the oracle colony would climb down the cliff and chose a new oracle to join their pristine, unapproachable, immortal clan. It would be Kat. He didn't even question the logic of this. Of course one of the most powerful races in any galaxy would want the love of his life to join them. Dammit. Well they could just think again, because he wasn't giving her up. 

He turned to his brothers in arms. "Then we better get there in less than two days." 

Slow smiles began to spread over their faces before Adrian, the sanest of them all said, "Well that took way too damned long," then loped back to the campsite and began dousing the fire. 

The boys murmured agreement as they started grabbing gear and loading it into the Pegasus. Ben laughed out loud at the insanity of it all. Yeah, immortal superwomen be damned, they were getting their girl back.


	15. Wolves Mate For Life

Most of the crew slept as Bear trudged along the corridor to the upper observation deck in the aft section. He stopped in front of the window looking out to the stars. 

He had watched Kat and Ben settle into their relationship the past few weeks. They were involved in a comfortable, normal, shipboard romance and the crew breathed easier as their relationship grew more stable.

Bot they weren't growing more comfortable with each other. Ben certainly was happy. They were agreeable together and got along well, talking about mundane things and work. They shared many common interests on the ship and worked well together in the field. 

Yet, Bear knew they never talked about their dreams, or hopes, or deepest fears. They didn't fight or even disagree. Kat had learned to dampen her gifts to meet Ben's expectations. They were becoming quite good at playing house and the more settled and comfortable Cumberbatch became, the more her aura dimmed.

It was so reminiscent of her parents early years in this galaxy that Bear felt his heart weeping at the sorrow of it. He shook his massive head at the memory of her father's excruciating path to surrender, and then, his discovery of the endless joy and satisfaction from becoming an emotional, spiritual, and intellectual team with his soulmate. What John and Cathy shared was whispered of in the secret places of the galaxy. 

The sorrow of it all, the ache of watching Kat's suffering, the weight of what was at stake and the pain of separation from his beloved overwhelmed Bear. He pointed his nose upward as the emotion burst forth in an eerie, heartbreaking howl. The howl bounced off the joists of the ship and echoed down the lonely hallway. He poured himself into the sound as his heart spilled over and outward.

When he stopped for breath he was exhausted, too exhausted to even growl at the being who stood in the shadows. They looked at each other for a moment and then the being waved her hand. In a flash, the wolf disappeared. 

\------

The next morning the away team met in Pike's office. When Damian and Adrian walked in. Kat looked around them. "Where's Bear?" she asked, as the dog continued to crash on their couch more often than not.

Damian looked surprised. "I thought he was with you."

Kat asked the others if they had seen him that morning. No one had. She looked concerned. 

Ben touched her arm. "I'm sure he's fine," he assured her.

"He has been acting oddly for a couple days. What if he's sick?" she asked, becoming more alarmed.

Pike held up a hand. "He's a pretty intelligent creature. If he wasn't feeling well, he knows exactly who to come to," he reminded her.

She nodded but bit her lip, looking worried. Ben reached under the table and massaged her fingers, giving her a gentle look that said everything would be okay. 

"I will find him," Pike promised her. Ben's eyes widened at the captain promising to do such a needless, mundane task. Pike added, "I'll notify you if there is anything wrong." 

Kat gave him a grateful look.

"Now, you should all grab your gear," Pike told them.

When the meeting disbanded, Adrian stayed behind. Without speaking he pulled up a video on the captain's screen. They watched the encounter on the C34 observation deck. Pike's eyebrow arched at the end. Adrian nodded, then left to join the team.

Pike considered the video, then scrubbed it as he had scrubbed previous encounters involving the big dog. He walked through the ship, nodding to crew and answering questions. When he reached his destination, his quarry was alone. He stopped and crossed his arms. 

"I just promised a young woman that I would find a certain canine before she returned. I hope that I will be able to keep that promise?"

"You have my word. He will be here with bells on when she returns."

Pike made a face. "That's something I'd pay to see," he said with some amusement. He nodded to her and walked out. Yes, the early reports had been correct. The Andromeda Galaxy was nothing like the Milky Way.

When the away team returned that evening, Bear was waiting in the loading dock for them. Kat gave a relieved cry and hugged the dog. She noted the bells stuck on his collar and cooed. "Did the children make those for you?" she asked, laughing. "Well, they are very handsome."

The dog gave her a happy woof and trotted alongside her, tail up, springy steps clicking as she carried her gear to the lab. 

Pike watched the homecoming from his office. He turned to the woman next to him. 

She shrugged. "Apparently there is someone who can put the beast's mood to rights," she said.

Pike considered this, then smiled. "That might be the best news I've heard in weeks."

She patted his arm and left to return to her job; her job on a ship that continued to be in the right place, at the right time, but more importantly was led by the right man for the task.


	16. The Botany Bay- Bored in Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grading 200+ midterms done, I need a brain transplant. Here's a scene I've always wanted to write for John and Cathy. What must it have been like for them in the beginning?

"I replaced the fuse. Is it working?" John Harrison asked. He was laying on his back, crammed under the control panel on the bridge of the Botany Bay. Like everything in the past six months, it reminded him that engineers who had never envisioned living and working on this beast had designed some pretty key components in her makeup. Like leaving room for a full-sized man to work under the damned console when the fuses fried. Again. 

He waited for Matt's response but just heard silence. He cricked his neck, trying to look out and sighed. Unless Matt had grown a really shapely pair of ankles, Cathy was bored. One delicate foot started to tap. 

Waves of guilt and remorse swept over him. When he had snatched her from the hospital, he had used the Bay's transporter device for expediency sake. Matt and Gregor had already taken over the ship and safely beamed the rest of the party aboard when John had radioed them, asking for help. 

The original plan had been to disappear on Earth with Cathy while the others escaped on the Bay and hope that Cheney thought they were on the Bay too. Instead Cathy had been near death and Cheney had come after them with a suicidal urgency and they had been forced to flee with the others. 

Even then John thought it was temporary as Cheney would surely be undone by the damning release of his secret files regarding decades of genetic experimentation. A couple months in space and they would be able to return if the crew had second thoughts about reaching the nearest habitable planet... the reason the Bay had been built in the first place.

Instead, they had bumbled into a worm hole that had sucked them into a terrifying vortex and spit them into what Gregor believed was the Andromeda galaxy. 

Christ, it could not have gone more wrong. Now, as the ship limped along with bandaid repairs, they were desperately making their way to the nearest planet that might support them before anything more catastrophic failed on the ship. They were still weeks away.

Poor Cathy. She had never fit in with the Nemain kids. She grew up in a loving home, she appeared to have no superior abilities and they were forced to flee before they were ready because Cheney was chasing her. The rest of the crew tolerated her because she was his but he didn't doubt if resources became scarce he would have to fight to the death as she would be the one the rest would be willing to sacrifice.

The others had skills that were at least applicable to their current situation. A movie star and singer didn't really have much relevance on a failing space ship. 

And she was bored. For a time he had found several really enjoyable methods of distraction but even his stamina was fading. He sighed again and began to squirm out of his tight spot.

He stood up to see Matt in the copilot chair trying not to grin. Smart ass. He adored Cathy and was amused as hell at John's predicament. John figured he was just jealous because at least they were having sex. Matt was too damned stubborn to share his feelings with Jeff so his own frustration was self-inflicted.

"Hi sweetheart. Did you need something?" he asked, thinking she probably needed to have fallen in love with someone sane who wouldn't kidnap the most beautiful woman on the planet and then nearly kill her in space.

"I want to help," she said.

"Oh god," Jeff said. Katrina snorted in derision and Cathy sent her a Hollywood siren glare that would have silenced a normal person. Unfortunately, no one on the Botany Bay was normal, except maybe the woman standing before him with the pleading expression. 

She had been an angel for six months, putting up with the shit from the others and trying to be helpful but being rebuffed at each step. She had been reduced to housekeeping in desperation, trying to find a place for herself in this madness. The other women hated her. The men patronized her and John was pretty sure he would have gone postal in her shoes long ago. 

She was too sane to realize that part of the problem was her inherent niceness. Her goodness grated on the rest as a constant reminder of what they had been created to do.

"We're having some trouble with the electrical system. I just need another hour to test the circuits," he told her.

"That's fine. I can help."

"Uhmm." He struggled to think of an answer that wouldn't have him sleeping alone for the rest of his life,

Her eyes narrowed. "I have cleaned. I have tried to cook although that shit the replicator produces doesn't really qualify as food and I have tried to be supportive but other than sex, what exactly do you see as my value to this expedition?"

Oh lord. We are going to do this now, he realized. "Sweetheart, maybe we could talk about this tonight?" he asked as the rest of the bridge crew turned their avid attention to the scene.

"Night? How the hell can you tell?" Her voice was rising and years of schooling at a convent were beginning to fall away as he realized he'd never heard her swear before. 

"Well, it's just a saying. We agreed to keep on Greenwich time until we found a new home world with solar markers to recalibrate our clocks to."

She looked at him like he had grown two heads. She finally shook her head and continued her argument. "If I'm stuck on this ship, I need to be part of this. I know you didn't plan on me being here but you weren't supposed to be here either and you have things to do."

"I have two engineering degrees, sweetheart," he reminded her.

She interrupted before he could continue. "And I'm the bimbo. I know. I get that," she said her voice rising. "You have all made that abundantly clear, believe me," she said.

John flinched and wondered why the hell Matt was giving her a thumbs up. Maybe John could distract her. He took a step toward her but the killer look she sent stopped him. His heart froze. He had known the day would come when she would hate him for ruining her life. This was it. He swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. No one thinks that and you are a member of this. It's just..." he faltered helplessly.

She snorted. "It's just that I'm worthless? Bullshit. I'm perfectly capable of learning how to be productive, so teach me." she demanded.

He paused, his heart still iced from fear that he would lose her, and shame that he had put her in this wretched predicament.

Her eyes widened. "Oh my god. You don't think I'm capable? You really do think I'm just good for sex."

He put up his hands to argue with her but she looked ready to kill. He sensed the rising emotions on the bridge. Katrina wasn't smiling now. The brilliant physicist had been used to bed the world's leading scientists to steal their research for Cheney and suddenly she was more sympathetic to Cathy. She knew what that felt like to be used by men.

The mood on the ship was fragile and John needed to get on top of this before it blew up into something much bigger.

"Well fuck you," Cathy said coldly. "You want sex, you can goddam teach me something useful first." 

He was pretty sure he was gaping and even though he had sworn he would never use his telepathic powers on her, he reached for her. He was stunned when she slammed her mind shut to him and flounced away in a huff. She moved toward the partition separating the bridge from the hall and outside lift.

Damn. He started after her but she snarled mentally at him and truth be told, he would rather face an army of mutant Nemain forces right now. Maybe if she just had time to cool off?

He saw Matt touch the console and heard the whoosh of the door closing before she reached it. Cathy reappeared. "What's wrong with the damned door?" she asked, indignant.

John gave her a helpless look. She glowered at him as he saw Matt's hand move out of the corner of his eye. Whoosh, the door reopened. Cathy whirled toward it. Whoosh. It shut just as she reached it.

She appeared again, looking livid. Matt looked like he was going to hurt himself not laughing and John wanted to strangle him. Cathy loved Matt so even if John tried to blame him, she wouldn't believe it. He sighed. "I'm working on the wiring issues now, sweetheart. The sooner I get back to it, the quicker it will be fixed."

Her eyes narrowed. Whoosh. Dammit. He was going to kill Matt. She turned and walked to the door. Whoosh.

"GOD DAMMIT! OPEN THIS GOD-DAMNED DOOR - RIGHT NOW!" 

John skittered after her. Whoosh. The door opened. If he had any strength left later, he was killing Matt.

He followed her onto the lift as the bridge crew heard her shouting, "Don't you even think it buster!" The lift closed on the string of French obscenities.

"Was that really necessary?" Gregor asked. 

"Oh yeah. It was necessary," Matt said, grinning like a fool.


	17. Building a Better Kat Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More and more I envision Kat and Colin's relationship as Aramis and Constance in the BBC Musketeers. Ben will never be bored.

Ben heard the scuffle before he walked around the corner. Colin had Kat slung over his shoulder and carried her past Ben as she threatened to do things to his man bits that made Ben shudder. Damian ambled along after them, grinning.

Pike followed next. Ben gave him a concerned look. 

Pike shrugged. "On the surface this appears problematic but we're talking those two." He shrugged again.

Ben sighed and fell into the processional.

Colin carried her into the detention block. “No, no, no,” she told him, struggling to get out of his arms. Ben looked at Damian in concern but he shrugged too. If her favorite protector wasn’t worried, he shouldn’t be either, he reasoned even as he fought the urge to pull her from Colin’s embrace.

Colin carried her into one of the cells and released her. She glowered at him as he gave her that cocky idiot’s smile.

"You couldn't wait until I was done eating?" she asked in that snotty British voice she used when she was mad.

Colin nodded to the ensign controlling the security desk. "Try frequency one," Colin said.

Suddenly Kat shrieked and dropped to her knees clutching her head. 

Colin frantically called for the ensign to turn off the frequency signal. 

“Oh my god, sweetheart, I am so sorry," he asked bending over her. "Are you ok?”

Kat looked up at him with what Ben could swear was a smirk. Ben heard a soft, “Shit,” from Colin before he groaned and sank to his knees. 

The cell door swished shut after Kat when she exited the cell, then snicked as it locked. Ben noted the glazed, adoring look the ensign was giving Kat as she turned to wave at Colin. Colin started shouting and pounding on the glass. 

She mimed that she couldn’t hear him although they could hear him perfectly well. Ben’s ears burned a bit at the threats his cousin was hurling at the pretty girl standing next to him, laughing her ass off.

Colin stopped shouting and glowered at her with hands on hips. Ben looked from Colin to Kat and back again and then giggled. He couldn’t help it. 

Pike clapped a hand on his shoulder, "You will never be bored, son." Then he told Damian, "Okay, back to the drawing board."

"What the hell?" Ben asked as Kaitlyn skipped from the room like a carefree kid.

"They're trying to build a device that can hold her."

"And she's aware of this?" Ben asked, horrified at the possibilities.

"It was her idea," Damian said, grinning.


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do not read unless you like reading the ending first!

Harrison walked up to Ben at breakfast the next day and handed him a fishing pole. John. Fucking. Harrison. was handing him a fishing pole and he wished there was some way, any way, he could not take it. He was pretty sure this wasn't going to be a pleasant excursion about fish. He swallowed hard and took the pole. Yeah, the evilly delighted look on Harrison's face wasn't a thing to be concerned about at all. 

He gave the Horsemen inviting looks. They fell all over themselves making excuses about why they couldn't join the fun. He thought Colin said something about needing to catch up on field reports. Assholes. 

After he walked away, he was pretty sure Adrian said, "What would you give to listen in on that conversation?" The laughter from his trusted friends made him want to rethink their duty rosters for the next few weeks.

An hour of companionable fishing later Ben thought maybe, just maybe, he should relax. So far Kat's dad had been all about the fishing, quietly choosing a spot upriver and expertly reeling in two beautiful fish that resembled the rainbow trout from his beloved Montana fishing hole. Ben hadn't done so badly and had felt like a little kid holding up his first fish to show off to his future wife's father. Then he remembered this man had caused a revolution that changed the course of human history and he quickly got ahold of himself and restrung his line.

"So here's the thing about Katie." Ben nearly jumped out of his skin at the quiet voice behind him. How the hell had Harrison walked up behind him and he hadn't even heard him? It was probably something he had learned in assassin school all those years ago and the fifteen decades since had just polished the skill. Ben tried to keep his hands from shaking as he turned to face Harrison.

"In case you haven't figured this out, when she's mad, she gets quiet. That's when you have to worry. When she's getting over it, she starts yelling. She's like her mum. I'm pretty certain it's in their DNA."

Harrison said all this while looking at the gently bubbling river. His quiet demeanor completely camouflaged whatever the hell he was feeling. Especially what he was thinking about doing to the moron who had broken his baby girl's heart and made her cry. He continued softly, "So when she's mad at you, you have to piss her off."

Ben gave him a horrified look.

"Trust me, you need to get her yelling. Once they're yelling, it's not long before they're laughing and then you're good. Then you grovel like hell and do whatever you can to make it up to them. But first, you have to get her past the quiet part." 

Ben considered the possibilities, including the very likely one that the Hellion from Harrow was completely pulling his chain. "What if I didn't do anything wrong?"

John Harrison gave him a sympathetic look like he was the dumbest SOB that ever lived.

"Right. Doesn't matter. It's always my fault."

"See, I knew you were a bright boy. Because of course, if you ever make her sad again, I won't kill you."

"Won't?" Ben looked at him in confusion and then gulped at the calmly menacing look on his hero's face. "Right, because I'll be wishing you would." He considered for a moment then sent the legend an equally menacing look. "Of course, then she'll be mad at you and you'll never get to play with those grand kids."

An expression of amused admiration flashed on Harrison's face before he smiled. "Then I guess we both better keep her happy."

"It will be my life's work," Ben promised.


	19. After the Mission

The salvage mission had gone wrong in every possible way, yet miraculously no one had been hurt but Kat and the mission had turned into a rescue when they found the still-alive crew. It was a good day's work in very bad times, Ben thought. And it had been so because of a stubborn, pigheaded woman who nearly died saving a teammate. His chest hurt when he thought how close they had come to disaster.

Ben surveyed the crews checking the Orci for survivors and the ship for any technological insights that could be gained. Adrian and Damian were setting charges on the science shuttle. All the important data and equipment had been salvaged from the damaged ship and now they would destroy it rather than have it fall into the wrong hands.

Bud appeared. "Permission to beam up for post-op physical," he said.

Ben nodded. "Of course. You did good work Bud, as always. Don't tell Meg how close we came to losing you though."

"I'm sure I can keep her distracted," Bud said before leaving.

Ben arched an eyebrow at his haste. Damian and Adrian were working at a fairly brisk pace as well.

"Why is everyone in a hurry?" he asked.

"There'll be a lot of sex going on tonight," Ming said, amused.

"What?" Ben looked at her, standing in the midst of the carnage. The other Horsemen approached.

"That sexual buzz from being on a mission with Kat. It's become a thing. It generally translates into some pretty amazing sex."

Ben frowned, wondering what she was talking about.

"You didn't notice the buzz?" Colin asked, in that disapproving tone he had developed when talking to Ben about Kat. "How could you not notice the buzz?"

Ben opened his mouth to respond and closed it. 

"Unless you always feel that way around her?" Adrian asked. Four pairs of knowing eyes turned in his direction.

Ben scowled. When the hell did his sex life become a topic for discussion, he wondered.

A thought struck him. "Does she have the same after-effect?" he blurted out before thinking and then could have kicked himself. Bloody hell.

Damian nodded, "Oh yeah," he said in a tone that made Ben's ears blush a little.

"What does she do?" He said aloud, and again, silently cursed. Maybe he had suffered a head injury during the battle? He nearly laughed though as several pairs of accusing eyes turned to Adrian. 

"I'm not sharing him!" He said in a huff. That led to a look between his cousin and the American that made it clear they would not waste the happy buzz.

Ben walked away with as much dignity as he could while he wondered if that was why she had returned to the ship. Maybe there was someone else taking care of her needs. It certainly wasn't any of his business. That ship had sailed as it were and he had several hours of work here to wrap up this mission. Still, he wondered if whoever it was would take care of her. She may think she was indestructible but she had been hurt today. 

His stomach clenched at the thought of how very close they had come to losing both Kat and Bud today. He sincerely hoped Scotty could find something in the Orci ship that would help them in future fights. It was disturbing how they seemed to be able to adapt so quickly to the Starfleet weapons as though the Orci were just one step ahead of them. Odd indeed for a beast that seemed to not be particularly intelligent. 

Four hours later and he was definitely dragging and the happy buzz was long gone by the time Ben returned to the Excalibur. He stopped in the medical suites on his way to his cabin. The crew of the science shuttle had been through a hell of an experience. There weren't many who could say they survived capture by Orci. Ben stopped when he saw the slender woman talking with one of the men. 

Bones approached. "She's been here ever since they arrived. She's helping heal the trauma effects on their frontal lobes."

"How is she?" Ben asked.

"Stubborn, infuriating and too kindhearted for her own good," Bones said flatly.

"She was badly hurt," Ben said.

"I cleaned up some of the tearing in her shoulder; once she gets some rest her body will take care of the bruising."

Ben had an image of those lovely shoulders and felt a bit sick that she had been injured.

"Dammit," he growled. He walked to her and without saying a word, scooped her up and carried her along the corridor. For once she was stunned speechless.

He carried her to the door of her cabin, then changed his mind. Stubborn indeed. He carried her to his cabin. 

"Uhm", she began.

"Not a damned word. You nearly got killed today and you're getting some sleep." He handed her a towel. "Shower and I'll order some food, which you are eating if I have to force feed you." 

"Well that should be interesting," she said softly.

He harrumphed and left her.

She looked around his cabin and saw it was smaller than hers by just a little and she still had more of his belongings than he did. 

He popped his head back in the bedroom. "I don't hear the shower running," he growled. 

"You should have your things," she said looking at the sparsely-furnished quarters.

He looked nonplussed as he followed her gaze. "They're fine where they are," he groused and pointed. "Shower." 

He handed her one of his black shirts she seemed comfortable in, then noted the way she was favoring that shoulder. He bent and removed her boots, then helped her pull off her away jersey. He flinched when she bit back a little moan as he gently pulled it from her shoulder. 

Grim-faced, he chastised her. "You're too valuable an asset to be this careless," he told her.

She stared at him as the stupidity of what he said settled on his face.

"I mean, shit. I meant..." 

She put fingers over his lips and said, "Shut up." His eyebrow arched but he saw the exhaustion in her eyes. 

"Food," he rumbled and left. She nearly fell asleep in the shower and awkwardly washed her hair. She was too spent for her body to begin recovery and her shoulder hurt like hell.

She looked at the shirt, thinking there was no way that was going to work. She peeked into the bedroom and then looked through his closet until she found what she was looking for. He appeared as she struggled to button the soft blue shirt. He sighed and buttoned it for her. His fingers were shaking a bit when he finished the buttons over her breasts, she noted. Good. Dumbass. 

Asset my foot, she thought but she had sensed his concern and bone-deep duty as he took care of her when he was ready to collapse in exhaustion himself. She also sensed his regret and guilt that she had been hurt. 

She was too tired to fight him and dutifully ate the soup he spooned into her mouth. Finally he gave up, scooped her in his arms and carried her to his bed. He tucked her in and then showered, dressed in a T-shirt and pajamas, and after seeing her sleeping, settled on the couch. He fell asleep twitching as he relived watching her slide toward the edge of the cliff trying to save Bud. 

Kat woke up as she so often did, reaching out mentally to test the psychic waves around her. All seemed quiet on the Excalibur but she remembered she was not in her own quarters. She reached for Ben but he was sleeping, hovering on the edge of wakefulness. She rose and found him on the couch. He was going to have a crick in his neck from sleeping there. She watched for a minute longer, taking in the fine line of his neck, his hands still folded on his chest and one foot peeking from under the blanket askew.

She fought the tender longing to tuck him back safely under that blanket. This was not one of her sweet horsemen. This was the alpha male and he was too dangerous to her heart to suffer a moment's softness toward him.

Kat covered him with a blanketing sleep-fog as she prepared morning tea and oatmeal. She allowed him a soft awakening as she finished, waiting quietly for him to struggle awake. He opened his eyes, blurry and confused why he was on the couch, then he remembered. Kat. She had been hurt and then stupid in not taking care of herself. 

He struggled to sit up but froze when the steaming mug appeared before him. He blinked himself more awake as she handed him the mug. She carried a bowl of mush and a teacup to the chair facing him and curled up, sipping the tea. She was bruised, disheveled and wearing an oversized man's shirt, and still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

She looked amused and he wondered if she was reading his mind. He sat up and flinched at the pain in his neck. Rising like a fluid nymph, Kat walked to his side. 

"May I?"

He wasn't sure what she meant until she began to lightly stroke his cramped muscles into relaxing. He nearly moaned in ecstasy it felt so much better. When she stopped, he thanked her. "That is a hell of a gift you have," he said.

"It was my mother's", she said, handing him a bowl of sweetly-scented oats. She returned to her chair and began to eat. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Stiff," she admitted. "I think I'll work from bed today and spoil myself." 

He nodded. "You earned it."

They ate in silence for a moment and Ben struggled to chose his words carefully. "I am sorry for being such an ass to you. The ship is lucky to have you," he said.

"Because I'm such a valuable asset?" She asked, amused.

"God, I really am an idiot with you," he said.

Those unfathomable eyes crinkled a little at the corner with amusement. Presumably he was not the first male to completely lose his mind around her. 

She smiled and whispered mentally, "No but you are the most entertaining."

He scowled, looking chagrined. "We live to please," he whispered back. 

She carried her plates to the kitchen and rinsed them before gathering her clothes and walking out of his quarters. In the doorway, she paused, all sexy, rumpled goddess in his shirt and nothing else. She whispered in a husky, yet oddly carrying voice, "Thank you commander, you exceeded all my expectations."

His brow furrowed as that seemed like an odd thing to say, until he saw the giggling recruits walking past his door. She had once again gotten the last word. 

"Wench," he thought, wondering how far her gifts carried.

"Pretty far," came the amused answer. 

"Well that's disconcerting," he said out loud to her amused laughter fading in his head.


	20. Caliban

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just realized Mary Stewart passed away this year. The person who inspired me to be a writer when I was so very young. Needed some of that inspiration for Ben and Kat and a horse named Caliban.

Ben wondered where Kaitlyn was. She wasn't in the kitchen chatting with the staff who adored her, or the library where she looked like she was born to curl up on a rainy day. She wasn't in the music room playing a mixture of ancient European and modern alien music that somehow blended into one perfect concerto under her fingertips.

She wasn't even in his bedroom which was where he preferred she be. Two days with this woman at his family estate and he felt as though she had always been here, like the giant oak near the lake with gentle bells chiming in the breeze or the thousand-year-old cornerstone under his feet. He rubbed a frustrated hand over his eyes and knew he had been churlish tonight at dinner. He didn't blame her for making herself scarce. Hell, he didn't even want to be around himself right now and damned if he could figure out what his problem was or why he was so short-tempered.

He paused on the balcony of his room and looked out at the land he loved so much and then nearly shouted in panic. He turned and raced through the house, then skittered down the stairs. 

She was barefoot and headed toward the horse pastures. One hoof misstepping on a delicate foot and it would be crushed and he rather liked those toes and arches the way they were. He raced out the kitchen door and nearly knocked his father over. 

"Sorry, excuse me," he said and then heard it. The alpha male bugle. His heart sank as he saw Kat sitting on top the pasture fence and the enormous stallion racing toward her. 

He started running. Caliban. Dear God, why did it have to be Caliban, that brutish bastard? Ben loved that horse but if he harmed her, Ben couldn't think of what he would do. He was too far away. He tried to reach her telepathically, yelling, but she was still blocking him, just as he had wanted her to do. He cursed his stubbornness as the horse was nearly upon her.

Amazed, Ben slowed when he saw the stallion slide to a stop in front of the slender figure and sidle next to her. She slipped off her perch onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Caliban nickered softly in the voice he used for a favorite mare, tender and caring. Ben's feet continued to carry him toward the pasture but his mouth hung open in shock.

Caliban pranced away with her and the two began a duet. The beast cantered and spun and danced in the moonlight with the woman on his back, arms up, reveling in the minuet. Her soft laughter filled the night. Ben propped his arms on the top rail and watched, not looking away when his father and Seton, the head groom, joined him.

It was mesmerizing, the sorceress and her spellbound steed. Caliban, the brute, was docile as a kitten with her and happier than Ben had ever seen him. He had a sinking feeling, watching the intricate steps the stud moved through, that it was probably a bit like watching himself under her spell at times. Was this why his crew looked at him with amusement and sympathy? They could see the delicate dance he had been unwittingly participating in?

"My horse loves her," he said stupidly,

"Yea, from the first moment he saw her," Seton assured him.

"My horse doesn't love anybody," Ben said, stubborn now. He saw his father's quick grin.

"Maybe he loves too much and just couldn't show it properly before," Ben Senior said.

Ben wasn't entirely sure they were talking about the horse anymore. 

"Nearly broke his heart when she left last time," Seton added. 

That quickening sense of panic rose up again, his heart beating so hard it should have burst from his chest. What must that be like, he thought. When she leaves. What would it feel like when she decided their delicate dance was over?

Eventually the stallion brought her to them and she whispered secrets and promises to the flickering, silken ear, then slid onto the fence. Caliban danced away like a foal, prancing for the sheer joy of it.

She turned on the fence and prepared to jump down. 

"Bloody hell," Ben grumbled and pulled her over his shoulder and stalked into the moonlight. He carried her to the soft grass along the pond and set her down, careful to place her smaller feet on top of his boots in case he stepped on her in the dim light. And there in the moonlight, under the massive oak tree that generations of his family had loved, he began to waltz with this woman who infuriated and bewildered and challenged him with every breath.


	21. Truce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in Part Two, after Ben is reassigned to the Excalibur.

Kat was lost in thought after leaving the lab and didn’t notice the lift wasn’t empty when she entered it. Then it was too late to step back out. She nodded briefly to Ben and he gave her an equally uncomfortable nod. They stood in opposite corners of the lift as it lurched upward, stopped and started again. Kat prayed that Scotty had been able to patch the cantankerous elevator enough to get her up two levels to her quarters. 

Ben’s communicator chimed and he opened it, then sighed. She couldn’t help it as she smiled at his dejected look. He glanced up and straightened, schooling his features into that professional mask that made her want to smack him. 

“That looked rather disappointing,” she said, motioning to his communicator.

He blushed slightly. “It’s nothing important.”

She stiffened at his curt response and looked straight ahead as the lift ground to a stop. The brightest engineering minds in two galaxies and they couldn’t fix a damned elevator. Bear mumbled at the tension in the small space. 

Ben cleared his throat. “It’s the cafeteria,” he said, realizing he had sounded rude.

She cocked her head wondering what could have gone wrong in the galley to cause his reaction.

He shrugged. “They were serving barbecue pork sandwiches. The real kind,” he explained. She shook her head, not understanding.

“They just ran out,” he said with devastating simplicity.

He may be a complete idiot but she’d have to be made of stone to not feel some sympathy at his downtrodden look. The man did like a good meal. Thankfully the lift lurched forward again. 

When the elevator finally jolted to the officer quarters’ level, she walked out and to her cabin door. She was an idiot, she thought. A complete idiot, yet his dejection was killing her just a bit. Bear nudged her leg. 

“I have stew,” she said, turning to him as he opened his own door.

He turned around, confused. She tried again. “I have stew in my warmer. The real thing. You are welcome to have some.”

She watched the war between his stomach and good manners wage across his face. “If you don’t want any, Colin will just have it for leftovers later.”

At that Ben followed her into the cabin. She debated fixing a plate and sending him on his way but that seemed a bit rude. Justified, but still, rude.

She handed him goblets and cutlery and dished up the fragrant stew. She pulled the cornbread from her small oven and sliced it, adding real Gorchan butter and honey before setting it on the table. He looked incredibly awkward. She handed him a bottle of wine and figured with any luck she wouldn’t beat him to death with it before they finished eating.

She fixed another plate with several large pieces of meat and a ladle of stew gravy, setting it down in the kitchen for Bear. She gave him fresh water and saw his look, then sighed. Kat poured him a very tiny bowl of wine and saw Ben’s arched eyebrow. She shrugged. 

“At least I know why he lives with you now,” he grumbled. 

She kissed the top of Bear’s head as he happily savored the stew. At least one of them would enjoy the meal, she thought, sipping her wine and willing herself to relax. Kat nibbled on a piece of corn bread as Ben tried the stew. She couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up as his expression was nearly identical to Bear’s look of ecstasy. She debated explaining her amusement when he sent her a questioning look but decided to play nice in the interest of a badly-needed truce. 

“Tough day?” she asked, diplomatically.

He sighed. “It does seem like we are in need of a space dock,” he said. “Every system on this ship seems to be fraying at the edges.”

“I noticed the lift,” she said. “Are there others?”

He nodded. “You’ve probably noticed the lights flickering? Well, that’s another problem, unrelated,” he told her. “Then there are weird glitches in the computer system and now the biological waste system is sluggish.” He saw her look and hastened to assure her, “It’s all fine. It’s completely safe, just annoying. I’ve never seen so many odd little problems crop up at once.”

He polished off the stew and thanked her when she rose to dish up another plateful for him. He did have good manners, she considered. Atrocious skills at coping with a telepath, but great manners. “Is she an older ship?” she asked. 

He shook his head. “She’s the flagship of the fleet. In the eight years since she came out, there haven’t been many improvements. She has years left in her. Maybe we just have to take better care of her,” he said.

“I wouldn’t let Scotty hear you say that. He will be out for blood if you say he hasn’t babied this massive darling.”

He grinned. “True. That’s what’s so weird. Even Scotty can’t figure out what’s going on. She was the first of this model so maybe we’re just seeing glitches before anyone else.”

“Still, she seems to be doing better than the Botany Bay,” she said. “I heard a lot of stories about how many problems there were in the first couple years with her. Mum said she wore out her rosary praying every time ‘that wretched beast’ acted up.”

Ben grinned. “The two great loves of your father’s life. Did they not get along?”

Kat thought about that for a moment and laughed. “That’s true. No, Mum knew she came first but I think it was a bit terrifying in the early days to be so lost in uncharted territory, with no resources and winging it as they went, so to speak.”

Ben asked her questions about the Bay and her father’s engineering work in her village. Bear curled up on the small couch and listened as she talked about some of the innovations her father and Matt had designed. She was surprised when her communicator chimed. Two hours since she had set the timer on the experiment running in the lab. And the bloody man was still breathing, she thought. Maybe it was progress.

Ben looked guilty. “I shouldn’t have stayed so long.”

“It’s fine Commander,” she told him.

He frowned. “We’ve broken bread, perhaps you could call me Ben again.”

She considered all the things she normally called him before saying, “I’ll think about it.” She added in a dry tone, “I think I have to survive several days without wanting to murder you before we get too crazy though.”

He grinned and rose to help clear the table. “What can I do?” he asked.

“I cooked, you clean,” she told him. “Those are the rules for the other Horsemen.”

She pulled out several containers and began dishing up the leftover stew and bread. Ben placed the dinnerware into her small washer and corked her wine. As he wiped the table, she tried not to appreciate the way that uniform moved with him. Yes, a complete idiot, she told herself. 

As he bent over the small refrigeration unit, she handed him the wine and containers while trying not to be distracted. He may be on her dirt list but the man had an outstanding ass, she thought. 

He straightened and saw the two containers she held out. He started to open the fridge. “No, those are for you,” she told him. She placed two cookies on top of the boxes and he gave her a smile that made him look like a ten year old boy. She sighed. Damn the man.

He must have seen something in her expression because he froze. Those constellation eyes darkened for a moment and he took a step closer to her. 

“You should go,” she said. “Since this is the first time in weeks I haven’t felt like smothering you in your sleep.”

He froze, considering how to respond to that. He finally grinned and shrugged. “Breathing is good,” he said and walked to the door. He turned to look at her. “Thank you,” he said softly.

“You are welcome, Ben,” she replied, then watched that very fine ass walk across the hall to his quarters. As the door shut Bear nudged her hand and whined. She gave Bear one of his doggie cookies, grabbed a chocolate cookie for herself, and wished not for the first time that Ben had never seen that damned painting.


	22. If at first you don't succeed

Kat's distracted and trying not to read his mind. The more Ben tries to pleasure her, the more frustrated she feels with the disconnect. He finally gives up and pulls her to his chest. "You must be exhausted. You've been working too much," he murmured, stroking her back in a soothing motion.

How the hell did women do this when they couldn't read their minds, she thought. It was impossible. How do you know what they're thinking, she wondered. 

Maybe they actually talked, the smart ass voice said in her head. 

"Fuck it, I'm reading your mind."

"What?" He looked disconcerted.

"Don't get all shegum on me," she said

"I don't even know what that means but I'm sure I don't like it." That voice was way too deep to sound that prim.

He started to move so she held him down mentally.

"Are you constraining me?"

"Constraining? Who the hell uses words like that in bed?" She grumbled.

He looked furious. "If I did that to you, you'd be livid."

"Well that's not going to happen, princess, so I wouldn't worry about it."

"Princess?" He was absolutely flabbergasted. "What did you call me?"

"You heard me, your majesty," she stroked a finger over his chest.

He was so many layers of manly outrage that she actually tried to see it. Tabby's princess in pink. With a tiara. She couldn't. Laying on his alpha male chest, it was too much of a stretch. She giggled again.

He glowered at her. 

"Sorry I was just trying to picture you in a tiara."

He grew quiet.

"Oh my god!" She practically shouted in glee.

"I was ten," he shouted back. "It was for a school play."

"And you were a princess?"

"Queen of the fairies."

She snorted she was laughing so hard. "Why did you play Tatiana?"

"All boys' school?" He said in a snotty voice.

"Oh god, I would pay to see that."

"My mother might have pictures," He grumbled but the corner of his mouth was starting to quirk up.

The possible images boggled the mind. She shared one with him. He was horrified, then burst out laughing.

"You are a pain in the ass, you know that?"

"It's a gift," she allowed. She stroked the vein that was standing out on his arm as he lay under her spell, struggling less now. It was kind of sexy having her way with him. And he wasn't scared, he was... Oh my. Well, if at first you don't succeed, she thought as her mouth began to move over his taut belly, then lower. 

"I'm not wearing any tiara," he grumbled.

"Of course not princess," she murmured.


	23. How Not to Catch an Enchantress

Ben wandered to the food table set in the shade where a hive of activity continued on the refugee school. Colin noticed the holster on his hip and wondered what he was up to. Weapons were strictly forbidden on Atrias and Colin doubted Kat would lift a finger to help him if Ben were arrested/harassed/dismembered, or whatever the hell they did to anyone who broke the rules here. Considering the strange mood Ben had been in the past two days, Colin wouldn't put it past him to do something crazy. He was calm, way too calm considering everything that was going on.

Ben glanced at the team of black-garbed Blacktide men swaggering toward Kaitlyn as she studied another map. She glanced up, frowning at the six men who approached. Pike joined the Horsemen as the newcomers spread out, effectively surrounding Kat. Colin, Adrian and Damian started to move toward her side but Ben commanded them, "Stand down, gentlemen." 

Colin gaped at him as the circle around Kat tightened. One of the men nodded to Pike. "You've received Starfleet orders by now. We've been ordered to do what your team refused," he said.

Ben continued to load his plate with the delicious food as Pike shrugged in response. Colin started to argue but Ben held up a quieting hand. Ben leaned against the stone wall, crossed his ankles and began to eat. 

"Understood," Pike said to the intruders.

"Sir," Adrian began.

"Stand down, commander," Pike ordered.

Pike motioned his head toward the youngest member of the Blacktide team. He stood off to the side, fiddling with a gadget. It looked suspiciously like the device Colin had developed to block Kat's telepathic senses and who the hell had given that technology to Blacktide, Colin wondered. Ben pulled out the phaser on his hip. He waved it at the young man. 

"Let's keep it fair," he said. The young man gulped and put the gadget down, backing away with his hands up. 

Without the device, the Blacktide team paused for a moment before their natural agression kicked in. They saw the odds of one small female against the five of them and moved in.

The first one raised a phaser and Kat leaped in to the air, scissor kicking him to the ground. In a heartbeat, the other four leaped forward.

"A little help," Kat shouted.

"Nah, you're doing fine," Ben said, waving a drumstick in her direction. "Have you tried the potato salad?" he asked Pike. "It's divine."

"Fuck this," Damian said and started forward. He never saw the stun blast that dropped him within two paces. 

Bear growled softly and started forward but the look from Ben and a casual wave of the phaser had the dog sitting down, watching the battle intently. Bear's entire body throbbed as he watched Kat knock another one of the Blacktide men out. Ben put the phaser back on the stone wall and started in on another drumstick.

"Looking good, sweetheart," he called. "Look out for this guy's right...oh... that looked like it hurt," he said nonchalantly as Kat yelped in pain. 

Colin tried to form a coherent thought but could only stare at his two commanding officers. They had moved onto discussing the pasta dish. Ben thought it needed more salt but Pike thought it was just fine.

Adrian shrugged and, after checking on Damian, began to load a plate himself. Colin started to wonder if maybe he had fallen through a wormhole into an alternate reality.

Bellina approached and took in the scene. She gave Ben a long look as he grinned around a mouth full of potato salad. She arched an eyebrow and sighed. Then she nodded toward the three men who approached. Heidleman and two more thugs walked toward them. He shouted at the younger man, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

The youngster motioned helplessly to Ben who held up the phaser. Heidleman's eyes narrowed. "You are interfering," he told Pike.

Pike shrugged. "If you can catch her, you can have her."

"Thanks a lot!" Kat groused as one of the newcomers moved to help his two remaining colleagues. He lasted a full thirty seconds. 

Heidleman walked toward the device and picked it up. Ben's phaser fired up, the blue ready light glowing. 

"That's right. You don't like a fair fight, you have to stack the odds," Heidleman snarled.

Ben sighed and looked at his plate longingly. Bellina reached for it, even as he handed it to her. She joined Pike, holding up the wall and tried the pasta. 

"It might need more salt," she said softly. Pike assured her it was perfect. She smiled at him as though he hung the stars. Bear began to mumble and moved his fluffy body between the captain and the beautiful Atrian.

Colin was torn between watching Kat dispatch the last Blacktide crewman and Ben finally finish what had been started all those years ago at the academy with Heidleman. Ben sauntered toward the hated Oedipus captain.

"Why don't we settle this?" Ben said softly. Heidleman smirked as both men stripped off their holsters.

Colin moved to the wall and took Ben's plate from Bellina and made sure the phaser was within arm's reach before trying the pasta. He agreed with Pike, it was just perfect.


	24. Piano Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This would take place shortly after Ben rejoins the Excalibur but not sure it will fit in.

“You need to get your reports in. If not, you'll be stuck in the captain's office on Saturday writing them up," Ben reminded Colin on Wednesday.

On Friday night, Colin still didn't have his reports in. "You don't have your reports in yet, so I'll see you in the morning," he told Colin. His cousin didn't seem all that concerned as he nodded cheerfully and replied, "See you all there."

While he wasn't surprised that Colin had put off his reports, Ben was surprised that Damian and Bud were late as well. They used to be first to have the hated reports completed. They also cheerfully told him they would see him in the morning and headed down the hall. "Well that was weird," he muttered. He looked at Adrian as he realized his reports were vacant. "What the hell?”

Adrian grinned, "See you in the morning." Well, obviously he was missing something here, he decided. That or the Horsemen had been body-snatched because no way should they be so cheerful about a Saturday morning writing reports.

The next morning, Ben carried his coffee into the officers' conference room and laid his tablet on the table. Pike nodded good morning and continued reviewing reports. The Horsemen slowly wandered in with Damian walking in last. He carried a large serving dish, placing it on the table as Colin handed out plates and forks. The smell of whatever heaven was in the dish made Ben's mouth water.

Damian explained, "We were late with our reports one week and Kat felt so bad for us, she made us breakfast. Then it just became a thing that we were always too busy to get our reports in and she likes to cook, so she spoils us.”

Ben tasted the scrambled eggs, cheese, vegetables and spicy meat and wondered if he had died and gone to heaven. "This doesn't taste like replicator food," he said.

There were varying derisive responses to this. 

"Kaitlyn doesn't like replicator food," Damian explained. "So whenever we have a landing team she usually manages to negotiate some incredible local foods. She splits the booty with Gus in the kitchen and keeps some for herself for her cooking.”

“’And families with kids,” Colin chimed in.

Pike nodded. “The captain’s kitchen is a testing ground for some of the parents since Kat insists kids need ‘real’ food. Whatever works, and most of it does,” he said, “Gus then copies in the crew cafeteria.” 

"What does she trade?" Ben asked savoring another mouthful of food.

"She just usually helps somebody with a health problem and then they want to repay her and by the time she's fixed everyone's health issues, she gets goodies for us. She’s careful to not take more than they might need but she does well," Pike explained, savoring. “Her mother kept the Botany Bay crew well fed for years, apparently.”

"She's also a hell of a hunter so she's taught the landing crews how to hunt and clean game so we actually have fresh meat sometimes now," Colin added.

"That explains it," Ben mumbled. "The food in the cafeteria is definitely better than anything I remember Gus serving before."

Pike nodded. "The girl knows her stuff. The benefit of having a Frenchwoman for a mother,” he added. “Catherine Beauchamp was an amazing cook apparently."

They started to work in companionable silence, as Ben appreciated the way the team seemed to relax and reflect over their week around the great food. It reminded him of the esprit de corps on the Atlantis.

"Has practice started?" Bud asked.

Pike used his remote to tune the large display. The ship's bar came into view. The camera was trained on the piano on the stage. Kat, Ming-na and Gaia had pulled comfortable chairs around the synthetic piano and shared a pot of tea. Meg walked in with a sleeping George. 

"He was up most of the night and now he wants to sleep," Meg explained.

Ben was surprised to see Meg and Kat sharing their down time. He was even more shocked when Meg handed her precious son to Kat and accepted the teacup Gaia offered her. 

"Are you ok?" Kat asked Meg.

Meg shook her head. "I had a horrible fight with Bud. That man is so dense. I could just smack him sometimes."

The Horsemen gave Bud sympathetic looks. "What did you do?" Colin asked.

"I have no idea, but she was pissed. She kept saying that if I wasn't happy with her, I should have just told her." he ran a hand over his close cropped curls. "I kept saying I didn't know what she was going on about but she was on a tear."

"Hormones maybe?" Colin offered helpfully.

"Who the hell knows? I spent the night telling her she was the most important thing in the world to me but then she just looked confused."

Ben started to squirm. He had decided to confront his security chief with his poor life choices but not here. And watching the women seemed to be an invasion of their privacy if Meg needed to vent. 

"Maybe we shouldn't be watching this," he said.

"They don't mind," Damian said. "If it's private, they get quiet and start talking telepathically but otherwise, we want to listen to the music."

Ben didn't hear any music so he wasn't sure what he meant.

"You would tell me," Meg asked Kat. "If something was going on that I needed to know about, you would tell me, right?"

"I would," she promised. "What are you talking about though?"

Meg sighed. "Ben thinks Bud is having an affair."

All eyes around the table turned to look at Ben. He flushed but looked Bud in the eye. 

"Whatever you're doing, that's your business, but I wanted her to know that she has a friend no matter what."

Bud arched an eyebrow at his friend like he was trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. He certainly looked oblivious and Bud was a horrid liar, as they all knew after that Cornelian waitress incident, years before Meg, when they were first assigned to the Excalibur. She probably would never ask another Earthling if her butt looked big and Bud had nursed a black eye for a week. Ben started to have that uneasy feeling that maybe he had made a miscalculation.

The voices on the screen continued. "So you had a fight with the love of your life because of something Ben said?" Kat asked.

"He said that he was here for me, no matter what happened and that he would support me in whatever I needed. Men only say something like that when they think your husband is cheating. So, is there anything I should know?" Meg asked with a quiver in her voice.

"Absolutely," Kat told her. "Bud is having a wild, hot affair with a younger woman."

Meg's head tilted as she looked at Kat. 

"So who is this bitch that we need to dispose of?" Ming-na asked.

"Me." Kat told her cheerfully.

Ben heard some snickers from the table and Bud gave him a dumbfounded look. He was starting to think he might have made a mistake but all the evidence pointed to the obvious.

"You?" Meg asked.

"Yep. Apparently he got that from something you said."

"What the hell did I say?"

"The Torgas mission- he heard you and Ming talking and you said, 'at least Kat isn't going.' So he jumped to the conclusion that Bud and I are doing the dirty right under your nose."

Meg slumped back. "Oh my God. I meant that there must not be any Orcis because you weren't going. Then you showed up and I knew there was a chance and I hate it when he's on a landing team and there might be Orcis. I know you'll do anything to bring him back to me, but God, I still worry."

"I know," Kat told her. Ben swallowed hard as that comment was reframed in his memory. Crap.

"I've actually offered him to you if you just bring him back," Meg reminded her, starting to sound a bit cross and Ben had a feeling her ire wasn't directed at her husband anymore. Bloody hell.

"I know and while it's tempting, it's just too complicated. If I have him on Tuesday and Thursday but I don't want him on Thursday, do I send him back? And if you don't want him then we have this big baby with a woo face to deal with. Nope, it's too complicated." The boys shot Bud grins as he nodded in agreement with Kat's statement.

"I even offered a threesome," Meg told Gaia.

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen," Kat told her. "You two would forget about me in about five seconds and there's just so much my ego can take. Besides, I'm just waiting for the irony to sink in," Kat said, gently rocking the baby as she kissed his downy head.

"What irony?" Meg asked.

"That whatever you put that sweet-assed man through last night was actually your fault when you think about it."

There was silence around the piano, then Meg swore. They saw the baby flinch and Kat murmured something soothing. Just then Justine walked in and sat next to Kat at the piano.

"Oh my God, I need to go," Meg said and dashed off.

"What's with her?" the teenager asked as she started to play a gentle warm-up on the piano.

"She just remembered she needs to tell Bud something," Kat told her.

"On bended knee," Gaia offered and the women laughed. Then Justine apparently got the joke and said, "Ewww."

"You are not allowed to watch Deepspace Nurses anymore young lady," Kat told her, a bit disconcerted.

Justine looked at George. "Did she just forget her baby?"

"Yep. It just gets better and better." The women shared a smile.

"If he wakes up, I don't think I have anything age appropriate for him," Gaia warned.

"He's toast, he'll sleep for another hour. Long enough for his folks to forget what a complete dumbass our first officer is," Kat said.

Ben put his head in his hands. "Shit." He looked at Bud. "I am so sorry."

Pike grinned. "Good, because you can finish his reports. He has something else more pressing to take care of." Bud didn't waste any time saying goodbye as he bolted out the door and toward his quarters.

Ben sat back and looked at Damian and Colin. Damian had developed the best stone face he had ever seen away from his own mirror and Ben couldn't read what he was thinking. Colin gave him a considering look, then said, "Dumbass."

The men around the table agreed and went back to their reports. Ben toyed with the last bit of food on his plate and wondered if he was ever going to get it right with this woman.


	25. That's Not Snot

Ben had only been gone six months but in some ways it felt like six years as he noted the changes on the Excalibur. For one thing, Pike ignored the Starfleet command putting a hold on science team landing parties due to the Orci threat. Even with the countermeasures Rodney and Scotty developed, the monsters were still too dangerous to deal with scientists scattered over a large surface area. 

Ben would never question Pike’s command, but he worried. When he heard Colin signaling for an emergency extraction from the planet's surface his heart sank. The other Horsemen had accompanied a party of scientists to a dry, uninhabited planet several hours earlier.

"Away team coming in hot!" Colin's voice yelled over the transmitter. Ben nodded to the transporter operator. He waited, trying to school his breathing as his cousins and their away team slowly materialized on the pads. This was supposed to be a simple exploration mission of a desert planet with the science geeks; there weren't any dangers in the scouting report, but this was exactly why Starfleet had enacted the ban, he thought.

As the team materialized, he saw Kat hunkered into as small of a ball as she could be between Damian and Colin. The boys looked stunned and completely horrified. The three science geeks were in various poses of terror fending off some unseen threat. And with the exception of Kat they were all covered in a heavy, slimy, glowing goo.

Some of the substance dripped off Colin as he turned to shout at Dr. Richardson. "What part of 'don't disturb the sleeping alien monster' did you not understand?'"

Kat looked at them in resigned amusement. She seemed to have missed the largest part of the spray but of course the hazardous environmental sensors started to blare and they all turned to glower at Richardson.

Kat sighed and stepped off the landing platform, heading into the adjoining glass-enclosed hazmat showers. The rest of the group followed but Richardson hung back, clearly in disgrace. 

"How was I supposed to know it would spray snot all over us?" he asked Ben. Ben started to shrug helplessly, more amused than he should be at the sight of the Horsemen covered with the fluorescent glop.

Kat stopped at the door and arched an eyebrow at Richardson. "Uhm,"she said softly. "That's not snot."

"Well, what the hell is it?" Colin shouted.

"He seemed kind of aroused. It's probably his mating season because he really seemed taken with you," she told Richardson. "His aim wasn't very good though," she added thoughtfully. "Maybe that's why they're facing extinction?"

The rest of the landing party reacted with varying degrees of horror and misery as they ran into the hazmat showers, stripping as they went and jostling for the four shower units. Still, from their behavior Ben guessed this wasn't a new scenario for the team.

Pike buzzed them from outside the sealed door.

"Commander, any idea what the hazardous threat is?" he called through the intercom.

The operator surprised Ben when he overrode the lock and let Pike in. "Kat didn't seem too worried," Lieutenant Singh explained, breaking hazmat protocol while trying to keep a straight face.

"Do we know what it was?" Pike asked.

Singh looked at Ben helplessly.

"It appears they ran afoul of an amorous Canigly," he offered.

Pike's eyebrow shot up. "Well that should make for some interesting field reports." He sighed. "Welcome back commander."

"About that, sir. They don't seem all that upset about meeting an alien monster. Most of the geeks would do anything they can to avoid danger," Ben said, watching the laughing group as Kat pushed Bear into a shower and he shook water over everyone.

"That was before Miss Kaitlyn. They’ve gotten a bit braver if she’s on the away team. They think she'll keep them from too much trouble. It's probably good to remind them of the dangers of space exploration now and again," Pike said with a broad grin. "This should do it."

The med teams had arrived and were working through the necessary blood tests and samples from each of the team. Ben nearly choked at the sight of the stunning woman completely naked, joking with the rest of the team, as she offered her arm for blood.

Women had varying responses to the hazmat showers, from preferring to stay separate and use the provided screens and towels, or showering with the guys on their team. It just depended on their comfort level with the members of the team but most women preferred to not shower with the lab geeks as some of them tended to be so uncomfortable trying to be polite that it was just awkward. He frowned as he looked for any signs that the geeks might be ogling what had to be one of the most beautiful women ever created.

He looked at Singh. "She's French," the younger man offered helpfully.

"The team seems pretty respectful," Ben noted. 

Singh looked aghast. "It's Kat," he said in deadly earnest. "If anyone was inappropriate, we would deal pretty quickly with him," he explained.

Ben nodded, thinking he was glad to hear it. He watched the team getting their med checks and starting to get dressed. Kat threw a towel at Colin as he continued to rib Dr. Richardson. 

Ben watched her dress and had a brief, vivid memory of running his hands over those curves. His mouth went dry when he remembered their ill-fated dalliance and how spectacular it was before he opened his stupid mouth.

Not for the first time, he realized the painting really was amazingly accurate. He doubted he would ever be allowed to touch those tantalizing curves again, but he had to admit, she didn't have anything to hide under that painted sheet. She was pretty much perfect. If only he had just shut up, he thought.

"Ah-hem!" Singh cleared his throat and shot him a condemning look. Ben flushed when he saw Pike’s arched eyebrow. He muttered an excuse before leaving Pike and Singh to oversee the after-brief. 

What the hell was wrong with him? She was one of his teammates now and he needed to get his act together. It wasn’t appropriate to ogle her, especially when she seemed to still be inordinately furious with him. Maybe he had a death wish, he thought as he wondered how many cold showers were in his future.


	26. Sheppard and Those Pink Tootsies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By request… So it never occurred to me what would happen to Ben and Adrian if Sheppard saw those pink tootsies. Yeah, it had to be written...

Ben, Adrian and Colin materialized on the transporter pad of the Starship Atlantis and met the woman who would be their commanding officer for the next six months. 

“Hello commanders,” Elizabeth Weir greeted them. “I believe you know Lieutenant Commander Sheppard,” she said. 

Ben arched an eyebrow at Sheppard. He was certain Sheppard was promoted to full commander about the time he was. Had he been demoted? Sheppard gave him a smart-assed grin like he knew exactly what Ben was thinking. 

Ben nodded, “Lieutenant commander.”

“First officer,” Sheppard said.

Ben looked at Elizabeth in surprise. She nodded. “John has recently decided to make his way back through his previous positions so as you are the highest ranking officer, I’m making you temporary First Mate.”

Oh, this wasn’t going to be awkward at all, thought Ben. Sheppard was a pain in the ass but he tended to instill extreme loyalty in his teammates at the academy. He doubted that had changed. Ben’s expression didn’t budge from coolly professional, but mentally he was cringing at how Team Atlantis would feel about their favorite son being replaced.

“This is Commander Teyla Emmagan and Security Officer Ronan Dex,” Elizabeth continued.

Ben braced for their animosity. Teyla approached and put her hands on Ben’s shoulders. She bent her head in greeting and he bent his head to meet her. 

“We are very happy to have you join us,” she said with real warmth. 

Ronan lifted a hand, “Hey.” 

Ben assumed that was his version of Teyla’s lovely greeting. 

Elizabeth smiled at Ben. “We’ll have your gear stored in your quarters, but first John will take you to Dr. Beckett for your check-in physical. Dinner in the officer’s mess is cancelled tonight to allow you to get settled.”

“Thank you,” Ben said. “And thank you for inviting us to join your crew,” he said. He wasn’t sure how much Captain Weir knew about his disgrace but she had to be wondering why Chris Pike would suddenly want to send his top officers away. 

As Sheppard led them toward sick bay, he heard Adrian swear, “Aw, crap.”

Ben glanced at him but he just saw Adrian give him a rueful look. Colin snorted as he got whatever the joke was.

When they entered sick bay, Sheppard introduced them to Beckett and they began to strip. As Ben was unfastening his boots he suddenly froze. Aw crap indeed. Tabby. He glanced at Adrian and Colin and grimaced. Yeah, this would be all over Starfleet by breakfast.

When he pulled off his cooling socks, those vivid pink toes might as well have been flashing in neon. He registered the shock of the medical team and Sheppard. To hell with it, he figured. If it made an angel smile, it was worth the humiliation.

While Ben stood in the enclosed chamber for a full body scan, Beckett glanced at Adrian’s toes. 

Colin shrugged. “Our chief engineer’s little girl wanted to make sure we didn’t forget her,” he said with a tightness in his throat that nearly choked him.

Beckett nodded. “Tabitha. Leonard has been sending her results to all the chief medical officers in case anyone has an idea how to help her. How is she doing?”

Colin shook his head as his face tightened. 

“I’m sorry,” Beckett said in that soft Scottish drawl. “Bones seems to be quite torn up about it.”

One of the nurses looked at Colin’s unpainted toes. “Why don’t you have pink?” she asked. 

He grinned. “Who do you think painted them?”

Adrian rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure he used some kind of bonding agent that will never come off,” he said.

“It will,” Colin assured him. “Eventually.”

Ben appeared from his electronic physical and began to dress. One of the nurses handed him his clothes with tears in her eyes and a definite invitation in her smile. He wondered what the hell that was about. 

Sheppard said softly, “Let’s show you the most important part of the ship. Beers are on Ronan.”

Ben noted the moisture in Teyla’s eyes as she wrapped an arm through his. 

“I saw you fight in the last tournament. We are quite excited to have you reviewing our self defense training, Commander,” she said as they walked toward the ship’s bar.

“I’ve actually been hoping to learn a few things from you,” Ben told her. “Your demonstration of defense techniques for the science geeks was amazing. We’d love to incorporate it on the Excalibur.”

The new Team Atlantis walked down the hall and Beckett sent a message to his friend on the Excalibur. “Package arrived safely. Settling in nicely.”


	27. In Which Ben Learns His Grandparents Have Sex

Kat was completely boneless as she lay on Ben’s chest trying to catch her breath. “Thank you for today. It was perfect,” she told him. “My mother loved this place. She always considered St Agatha’s home.”

He squeezed her and kissed the glossy head resting under his chin. Suddenly her head snapped up and she bolted from the bed. She shrugged into the thick plush robe and tossed Ben’s to him then dashed to the door as she tightened her belt. She opened the door just as his grandfather was raising his hand to knock. She darted under his arm and down the hall. 

The Duke answered Ben’s look as they followed her. “Livy. She’s having trouble breathing,” he said. 

They stopped near the bed where Kat was patting Olivia’s hand and soothing her. Ben noted his grandmother looked extremely pale but her breathing was already slowing and relaxing. 

After a couple moments, Kat relaxed and arched an eyebrow at the Duchess. “So after traipsing all over St Agatha’s today at this mountain elevation, you two had champagne?” 

Livy nodded.

“And chocolate?”

“Of course,” Olivia responded.

Kat tipped her head to the side, “And, what do you call it here? Pot?”

“Hash,” his grandmother whispered conspiratorially. 

“Where the hell did you get pot?” Ben asked

“It’s in the welcome basket,” his grandmother said motioning to the lovely basket sitting on the table.

“Oh,” Ben said, a bit disconcerted. “We never got that far.” 

Olivia shook her head sadly. “He was always rushing, even as a child.” She looked at Kat. “Does he take his time when it’s important?”

The two women looked at Ben and he was pretty sure he blushed from the tips of his toes to the roots of his hair.

Kat grinned. “Are you asking if Ben is thorough?”

His very proper grandmother nodded. 

“Very,” Kat said.

The two women smiled. Ben appreciated the sympathetic look his grandfather shot him.

Kat continued her diagnosis. “So after all that, you two had,” she tilted her head. “Sex. Really great sex.”

It was rather alarming to see his grandfather blush. Ben returned the sympathetic look.

Kat gave Olivia a sip of water and smoothed the cover over her. She kissed the older woman’s cheek and bid her goodnight. Then she straightened and hugged the Duke. 

“She's fine. A good night’s sleep and bit less champagne might be in order though.” She kissed the Duke’s cheek. “Well done, sir. It’s not every man who can still take a woman’s breath away after seventy years.”

He tried to give her his sternest look as she sauntered from the room but the corner of his mouth curved in rueful amusement. He glanced at Ben. “I was such a jackass with your parents that I swore I wouldn’t interfere with you children, but please tell me you aren’t going to let her get away.”

Ben arched an eyebrow.

“That girl is a keeper, son,” his grandfather said.

Ben kissed both his grandparents goodnight and then admonished them, “Behave.”


	28. Inspiration for Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link to photo of Bear's face claim

The inspiration for Bear. My Alaskan Malamute and yes, her attitude and personality are suspiciously similar to said wolf-dog.

http://katandthefourhorsemen.tumblr.com/image/93807033833


	29. Bear's Nemesis

Bear happily trotted along the hall of the Excalibur. Kat's head was wrapped up in some crazy math calculations so he had spent his usual midday in the school suites. He had helped the nursery teacher get the kids down for a nap. Now, tail up, springy steps clicking, he trotted toward the crew mess to see if there was anything appealing he could mooch from Gus.

He turned a corner and froze. The big dog stood like a statue for a space of seconds before he started to growl viciously. He growled and foamed at the mouth as the being walked toward him. His entire body trembled with rage as he showed every one of his sharp fangs.

"This look suits you," the being said before waiving a hand. Bear yelped at the sting that shot through his backend. He turned tail and raced away, yipping in distress. He skittered into Kat's lab and crawled under her chair, nearly upsetting her in his panic.

Ben walked into the lab and gave Bear a concerned look. "Is he okay?" he asked.

"What did you do to him?" Kat asked, on the floor now, hugging the big dog as he whimpered.

"I didn't do anything," Ben said. "He ran by like his tail was on fire." 

"Did you see what happened? He's clearly upset," she said, kissing the dog's head and cooing to him.

Ben walked out and greeted someone. "Hello. Did you see anything weird happen to Bear?" Kat heard him ask. The response was negative so Ben walked down the corridor checking to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous for dogs or small children. Bear was rumbling now, making angry Wookie noises.

"Poor baby," she said. "I won't let anything hurt you," Kat told him. 

She reached into her drawer and pulled out some of the jerky she and Gus had made. She gave it to the dog who was now rooing and grumbling in indignation. He accepted her treat and flopped down under her desk with the biggest sigh of exasperation Kat had ever heard. 

She, Jemma and Fitz shrugged their shoulders at the dog's behavior and went back to work. Eventually he fell asleep but every few minutes Kat rubbed her foot over him as he whimpered in his sleep.


	30. Time to Come Home, Ben

“Isn’t she a telepath? How do you screw it up with a telepath?” Sheppard said in that smart-ass voice.

Sheppard always said he was too lazy to train for the tournaments but his team knew in a real life-or-death battle, there was no one they would rather have on their side. Still, his heart really wasn’t in this since he knew he deserved whatever Ben dished out. 

And the uptight Brit had clearly been pushed beyond his endurance because he was enraged. Sheppard did okay at protecting himself from the worst damage while getting in a few shots and he had to assume that Cumberbatch would eventually run out of gas. Still, it was upsetting Ronan’s delicate sensibilities because he kept trying to pull them apart and then apparently Teyla got worried because she pulled her phaser out.

“No!” Sheppard shouted but it was too late; Ben crumpled first and then John face planted on top of him.

It was the second time that day that Ben woke up with someone sleeping on his chest. He groaned and shoved Sheppard off. Then he focused on the faces looking down at him. “Shit,” he said softly. "Captain.” 

“Commander,” Pike said, looking down at him with a quizzical expression. Yeah, this day just kept getting better and better.

He struggled up and tried to pull himself together. When he dusted off his sleeves, the right one gave from too much abuse and tore off from the shoulder. When he grimaced, he felt the sting on his lower lip and was pretty sure he would have a black eye as well. He glanced at Sheppard and smirked as he realized the American also sported a swollen eye and split lip, but he was rubbing his jaw like it might be damaged. Good. Bastard.

Pike wasn’t alone. Colin and Damian were giving him looks like he had just grown two heads. Then they heard the feminine cry. Kaitlyn catapulted toward them, only slowing down for an instant to give him, then Sheppard, a horrified look before she burrowed into Damian’s chest. 

“I want to go home,” came her muffled response.

Colin held up his hands like, “What the hell?” and Ben just shrugged. Fuck it. There was no way he was explaining this debacle.

The silence stretched as Pike seemed to be measuring him and Ben had a sinking feeling that whatever hopes he had of returning to the Excalibur were pretty much sinking to the bottom of the crystal mine, as well as his career with Starfleet if Pike exercised any logic in dealing with him. How many strikes did Americans get in baseball? He was pretty sure he had used his up.

Finally Pike told Adrian, “Grab your gear.”

“Yes sir,” Adrian complied immediately. 

“And bring Ben’s gear as well,” Pike called as though it was paining him.

“May I ask where we’re going?” Ben asked through his swelling face.

“Home Ben, it’s clearly time you came home,” Pike said and walked toward the waiting shuttle.


	31. Mad Dogs and Englishmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't fall in love with my girl," Ben had said when Colin was called back to duty on the Excalibur. As it turned out, that request was unnecessary.

Pike waited for the landing team to disembark from the shuttle. When he had radioed them asking if their mission was successful, the response had been rather cryptic. Since Kat and Colin were on the team, that could mean anything from one of them had killed the other to they had left the lush, thriving planet a wasteland in their feud. He really would like to retire without any more intergalactic incidents on his watch. 

It did not bode well when Kat stormed off the shuttle and stalked to his side. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot furiously. In his younger years this behavior usually preceded tears and things being thrown at his head. 

“How did it go?” Pike asked in a cautiously neutral voice.

She made a muffled shrieking noise and fairly bounced with fury. He was going to ask for details but the sight of the crew walking toward him captured his attention. Ming-na, Colin, Damian and Bud were not carrying the cargo he was expecting. He tilted his head as they reached him. 

“What’s this?” he asked. 

Ming set a cage down at his feet and grinned. He looked to Damian for clarification but he only shrugged and set his cage down next to Ming’s.

Pike asked, “Did you get the calibrated crystals for the Daedalus?” 

Bud placed his cage carefully on the ground and nodded. “For a price.”

Pike glowered. “I’m not going to like this am I?” He looked to Damian as the team leader of this merry band. 

“They said Blacktide had been there two days ago and offered twice what we were authorized to give them,” Damian told him.

Pike’s jaw clenched as he looked at the live chickens at his feet. “And?”

“The village chief became enamored with our negotiator,” Ming motioned to Kat.

“And?” he grit out.

“Colin sold her.”

Pike’s first thought was that it couldn’t have been that bad because Colin was still breathing. Then he looked at the chickens pecking their cages. 

“Her dowry,” Colin explained. “And this,” he said, handing Pike the perfectly calibrated crystals needed for the new generation facilities on the Daedalus. Crystals that could only be tuned by the craftsmen on this particular planet. 

Pike sighed. He gave Kat an apologetic look. She continued to glower at his communications officer. 

“Congratulations?” Pike offered.

Her eyes narrowed. Pike held up a hand. “I assume there wasn’t a honeymoon.” He sighed heavily. “I can’t wait to explain this one to Starfleet.”

Kat snorted. “Fortunately the chief suffered from gout so he was more than happy with medical treatment and your payment for the crystals.” She huffed and started to walk away.

Colin just couldn’t let it be though. “Hey, he was old, but he still had a few good years left in him.” 

Kat stopped, then slowly turned. She sauntered back to Colin, smiling in a sexy, come-hither kind of way that Pike figured probably explained the village chief’s adoration.

She pulled Colin’s face to hers and whispered in his ear. 

“Oh crap,” Pike muttered and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He was definitely too old for this.

She kissed Colin lightly on the mouth and then turned to walk away. Colin shook his head and appeared confused for a moment. Pike crossed his arms over his chest and gave her The Look.

“What did you do?” he asked mentally.

Her wide-eyed innocent expression made him really nervous. 

“Should we take these to the galley for stew?” the supply chief asked, motioning to the chickens. 

“No!” Kat exclaimed. “Those are brooding hens,” she told him. He shook his head, not understanding. 

“Real eggs for real cookies, bread, cakes.”

“Ah,” he said. “Where should we put them?” he asked the captain. 

“Wherever the happy bride wants them,” Pike answered. “And Commander Cabrera will be responsible for building whatever kind of housing Dr. Harrison specifies for them. 

Colin opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it at the captain’s look. Two lovely young crewmembers came forward to take the clucking hens. 

Kat considered. “I know just where they should go. In suite one-B-21,” she said.

It only took a moment for Colin to realize that was his lab. “Hell no,” he said. He started to argue but Pike held up a hand. 

“Off you go,” he told the women. Colin’s mouth compressed.

When one of them stooped in front of Colin for a cage he smiled charmingly, obviously flirting. He would probably find a way to seduce his way out of this, Pike thought. That or his communication systems would be layered in feathers soon.

Then Colin opened his mouth to say something flirtatious ... and barked in a series of annoying, little-dog yips. He continued to smile, oblivious to what had just happened. 

Bud, Damian and Ming snorted with laughter. Pike’s mouth twitched. So did one eye. 

Colin noted the young woman’s confused expression as she picked up the cage and then his team’s varying stages of amusement. “What?” he demanded. His eyes narrowed when they gave him innocent looks then hastily fled, giggling. 

Pike sighed. “How long?” he whispered mentally.

“Excuse me?” Kat asked.

“How long will this last?” 

“Forever?” she offered.

He was pretty sure his aura was turning six shades of frustrated. She sighed. 

“Until someone says the hypnotic release phrase,” she admitted. "And it's only when he's flirting."

“What's the phrase?” he asked. 

She looked petulant. He gave her The Look again. Finally she whispered mentally, “Elephants with pink tutus.”

His eye twitch escalated. “Well, that’s not something you would hear everyday, is it?” he said.

She waited for him to say the words out loud but he looked at Colin for a moment, considering. Then he grinned and said, “Carry on.” He turned on his heel and left the hangar, figuring they would work it out eventually or he’d lock them in the Brig together. He was fairly certain Kat wouldn’t actually kill Colin. 

He hoped.


	32. Trauma Support Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for your patience! I had to focus on my next book but it’s finally published so I can get back to Ben and Kat!
> 
> My author page: https://www.amazon.com/Jilliene-McKinstry/e/B001KHMH08

The ship's computer sent a soft reminder over the announcement system. "The KH support group meets in 15 minutes in counselor Moon's office."

Fitz and Jemma began to organize their work and hibernate their computers.

Kay followed their actions, wondering where they were going.

Fitz looked at her in horror. "Uhm, we're just taking a break. You can keep working."

"I don't mind," Kat said as she stretched. "I could use a break."

"Uhm," Fitz continued to flounder. "It's a private meeting."

Kat paused, noting his discomfort. Then she tried to not hear his thoughts but he was trying so hard to hide them that he was mentally shouting. 

Jemma's eyebrow arched. Kat's eyes widened in horror. 

"The Kat Harrison Trauma Support Group?" she practically shouted. "Are you serious?"

"It's for the crew who have been on away teams with you," said the amused drawl from the door.

She whirled on Damian. "Seriously?! I would think they have less trauma!"

Jemma cleared her throat. "You would think that, except for that one minor detail."

Kat glowered at her friend and crossed her arms, waiting for an explanation.

Jemma hugged her and whispered, "You run TOWARD the Orci."

Fitz nodded madly. "It's true."

Damian wrapped an arm around Kat's shoulder. "Come on, I hear they have green jello in the cafeteria."

She harrumphed as he led her out, then caught the amusement in his thoughts.

"Don't make me zap you," she hissed mentally. "Oh my god. It was your idea!"

"Pike approved it," he offered helpfully.

"Wretches," she muttered. "There had better be a rainbow of jello."


	33. Do No Harm

"So, is it like being a good witch?" Ben asked.

Kat glanced at him, wondering what on the goddesses’ stars he was going on about.

"You know... Do no harm." He put quotation marks around that last part.

She arched an eyebrow. 

He grinned.

She glowered at him.

His grin widened. 

Then his face screwed up in an amusing expression of concentration. He tried very hard not to rub his man bits, but still groaned softly.

The sound reminded her of his pleasure. She released the slight pressure on that part of him she wasn't mad at and huffed.

He grinned again. She tried to hide her answering smile but knew he could read it.

"Horrid man," she said.

"Beautiful enchantress," he said softly, looking inordinately pleased.


	34. Couples Counseling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the disastrous mission, the team suggested a moratorium on away teams until Ben and Kat could resolve their differences. Pike suggested counseling with Moon. After a session with each, Moon suggested couples’ counseling.

Moon considered the two stubborn and angry young people in her office. Not since that unfortunate attempt at marriage between a Vulcan and a Klingon had she seen such animosity.

“I think we should start by openly and calmly discussing the problems you have working together,” Moon said, using her calmest counselor voice.

“I don’t have a problem,” Ben said stiffly.

“He’s lying,” Kat said primly. 

He glowered. “I do not lie, I was...”

“Prevaricating?” Moon offered.

He glowered at both of them. 

“Stop reading my mind,” he told Kat. “I know everyone else on this ship seems okay with you digging about their privates but I prefer to keep my privates...” he floundered.

“Private?” Moon offered, sounding amused.

“I just think we need to establish the chain of command for those who don’t have proper Starfleet training,” he said. 

Kat’s eyes narrowed. 

Ben continued. “When we’re on away teams, I’m in charge. I’ve been leading away teams for years without your help. So, you stop reading my mind and I’ll...” 

“Stop prevaricating?” Kat suggested.

“I’m allowed my own mind,” he told her.

She sniffed. “If you had one,” she said silently to Moon.

Ben noted Moon’s mouth twitch.

“She said something didn’t she?” he asked, sounding very British and very indignant.

“Well that would be none of your business,” Kat snapped. “Because, you know. You don’t want to use my gift.”

“Curse,” Ben thought silently. 

She gave Moon an outraged look. “He says my gift is a curse.” Kat’s eyes narrowed. “I could show you a curse,” she said softly.

Moon hastily interceded. “How about if we agree to disagree for now. Perhaps we could take this in baby steps.”

The two combatants crossed their arms in unison and patently ignored each other.

“Really tiny baby steps,” Moon said softly.


End file.
